MONTREAL -- Sophomores Claire Vercheval of Ste. Julie, Que., and Elisabeth Perrault of Laval, Que., each tallied 11 points as No.10 McGill stunned second-ranked Montreal with a 25-23, 25-21, 25-10 sweep in RSEQ women's volleyball, Friday, at Love Competition Hall.

The win put an end to McGill's seven-game losing streak against the Carabins, dating back to Oct. 29, 2016 and was only their fifth victory in the last 40 regular season confrontations. It also moved the Martlets into a dead heat with U de M atop the RSEQ standings at 9-2 with nine games remaining before post-season play. The Martlets were dressed in pink in honour of their annual "Dig for the Cure" game, benefiting the Quebec Breast Cancer Foundation. The fundraising total was not immediately available after the game but in a classy move, the Carabins contributed $400 to the cause.

"We applied the game plan very well," said an elated head coach Rachele Beliveau, a former Canadian Olympian who improved her career record to 597-520-2 in 27 seasons behind the McGill bench. "Everything we had worked on this week, we were able to do, so we reached our goals. Coming back from our training camp in B.C. over the holidays was very good for us because we played a lot of tall teams -- we were challenged a lot with (tall blockers on the other side of the net).

"We were able to serve really, really tough tonight and really unbalanced Montreal's serve receive, and then from there they couldn't be as offensive-minded as they usually are," she explained. "At the same time, we took the opportunity to play good volleyball, with solid defence. We hit off the hands a lot, which led to us scoring a lot of balls. Overall it was a great performance from everyone."

Vercheval, a 6-foot-1 power hitter, earned her points on the strength of seven kills and four aces. She also chipped in a pair of digs. Perrault, a 5-foot-10 middle blocker, had seven kills, three aces and a stuff block, along with a pair of digs.

Team captain Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., followed with 7.5 points, courtesy of five kills, two aces and an assisted block. She boasted a .556 kill efficiency and also had a pair of assists and five digs. Erika Cournoyer of Longueuil, Que., earned seven points on three kills, one ace and a trio of blocks, to go along with two digs and an assist.

Rowan Fletcher, a six-foot sophomore from Montreal led the defensive effort with seven digs, and second-year setter Catherine Duchaine, also from Montreal, had a game-high 16 assists.

"Rowan played very well, giving us some good defence and really gave us some momentum in the game," praised Beliveau. "Being able to dig against Montreal that way is something that we've never done that much before, so that was great to see. The young setter Duchaine did a good job as well, being able to set-up all the hitters at the net evenly -- so it was a team effort and a great performance overall."

Marie-Alex Bélanger led the Carabins with 11.5 points.

The Martlets had a 13-7 margin in service aces and a 30-29 difference in digs, while Montreal had a 26-25 edge in kills. Both teams had five stuff blocks.

"The key was our recent training camp in Kelowna, B.C., where we scrimmaged a lot," said Beliveau of the team's recent trip to B.C., during the holiday break, crediting it as an important experience both on and off the court. "We were going two sessions a day of training with high intensity and we had just enough time to recover here from the cross-country trip before we played this first game, so it was a good opportunity for us."

McGill (9-2) next visits last-place Sherbrooke (2-9) on Friday, Jan. 19 at 6 pm, while the Carabins (9-2) host fifth-place UQAM (2-9) that evening.
 

2017-18 RSEQ Women's Volleyball Standings • Classement de la saison régulière du volleyball feminin

Pos	TEAM	GP	W	L	SW	SL	PF	PA	PCT	GBL	PTS
1	Montréal	11	9	2	27	11	901	740	0.818	0.0	18
2	McGill	11	9	2	28	12	922	835	0.818	0.0	18
3	Laval	10	7	3	25	12	844	775	0.700	1.5	14
4	Ottawa	10	3	7	14	27	847	903	0.300	5.5	6
5	UQAM	11	2	9	15	31	894	1045	0.182	7.0	4
6	Sherbrooke	11	2	9	14	30	896	1006	0.182	7.0	4