Women's Volleyball | 9/24/2017 6:34:00 PM

MONTREAL -- The McGill University Martlets swept the host Citadins 25-22, 27-25 and 25-8 to claim gold at the UQAM Invitational tournament on Sunday to open their 2017-18 women's volleyball preseason schedule. The Martlets went 5-0 at the six-team tourney without dropping a single set, marking the best start to a season in team history.

McGill opened the competition by sweeping Western (25-23, 25-18, 25-23) and Waterloo (25-21, 27-25, 25-13) on Friday, followed by Saturday conquests over Queen's (25-12, 25-19, 25-17) and York (25-16, 25-22, 25-22).

"It's a good start," said Martlets head coach Rachele Beliveau in a bit of an understatement. "It really takes a team effort to be able to remain consistent (especially when making substitutions). It showed the depth of our team and that's going to be really helpful going forward. Even though we went through the tournament (utilizing our full roster), the quality of our play remained the same."

Claire Vercheval, a 6-foot-1 power hitter from Ste. Julie, Que., led the offence with a tourney total of 56 kills and a 49 per cent kill rate, a 37 per cent kill efficiency rating, one stuff block, two service aces and 32 digs. Middle blocker Elisabeth Perrault, a finance sophomore from Laval, Que., contributed 42 kills, nine aces, six stuff blocks and 27 digs, with a kill percentage of 48 and a 35 per cent kill efficiency. Senior power hitter Emilie Matte de Grasse of Montreal also had a strong performance, registering 30 kills, six aces, five stuff blocks and 34 digs with a 38 per cent kill rate and 25 per cent kill efficiency.

UQAM took second place in the tournament and Queen's surprised perennial powerhouse Montreal for bronze.

McGill travels next weekend to Ottawa for the Gee-Gees Preseason Classic (Sept. 29 to Oct. 1), where they are seeded in the Grey Pool with Montreal, Western, Guelph and Memorial. The Martlets are slated to meet Guelph at 1 p.m. on Friday (Sept. 29) then take on the Montreal Carabins at 7 p.m. that evening. After round-robin play, the teams will cross-over with the Garnet Pool, which features Ottawa, Lakehead, Sherbrooke, McMaster and Dalhousie, for the medal round on Sunday.

MARTLET MURMURS: Team captain Myriam Robitaille did not play as she recuperating from a busy overseas playing schedule with Team Canada, including the FISU Summer Games in Taipei in late August... Middle blocker Mila Krunic also sat out as she recovers from an injury suffered last season.