MONTREAL --
Florence Leblanc scored 14 points as the
Université du Québec à Montréal rallied from an early one-set deficit to upset eighth-ranked McGill 3-2 in RSEQ women's volleyball at the Centre Sportif de l'UQAM, Thursday. The set scores were 22-25, 25-15, 16-25, 25-23 and 15-9.
That put an end to a six-game win streak in conference play for the Martlets, one shy of the team record which has been accomplished on three previous occasions. It also snapped McGill's six-game win streak over UQAM and marked just the third-ever loss for the Martlets in 12 lifetime confrontations with the upstart Citadins, a surprisingly competitive program that joined the league two years ago.
UQAM led 44-39 in kills, 16-6 in service aces and 81-76 in digs, while the visitors had a 10-3 margin in blocks.
"It was a pretty disappointing performance tonight," admitted McGill head coach
Rachele Beliveau, who is one shy of 600 career wins behind the bench. "Just from the first ball control tonight -- both on serve and serve-receive -- we gave up 25 points. We just didn't show up, even though we practiced so well yesterday. We opened the door for UQAM and they were smart enough to take the opportunity."
Leblanc earned her points on the strength of 11 kills and three aces, and also had 10 digs. Teammate
Émilie Bisson followed with 10 points, courtesy of nine kills and an ace. She was also credited with 11 digs.
The Martlets were led by team captain
Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., who tallied 12.5 points. The fifth-year middle blocker had nine kills, one ace, a stuff block and three assisted blocks, along with six digs.
She was one of three Martlets to reach double-digit scoring in a losing cause, along with sophomores
Claire Vercheval (11 pts) and
Elisabeth Perreault (10).
Teammate
Lea-Marie Duguay, a junior libero from Lorraine, Que., came off the bench to collect 15 digs and one assist while junior
Clare Nishikawa, a right-side hitter from Ottawa, served up an ace.
Beliveau will now get a chance for her milestone victory at home on on Sunday (Jan. 28) when second-place McGill (11-3) hosts sixth-place Ottawa (3-10) at 1 p.m. at Love Competition Hall.
UQAM (4-10) next plays on Feb. 2 when the confront Montreal (11-2).
| 1 |
Montréal |
13 |
11 |
2 |
33 |
15 |
1113 |
942 |
0.846 |
0.0 |
22 |
| 2 |
McGill |
14 |
11 |
3 |
36 |
16 |
1194 |
1089 |
0.786 |
0.5 |
22 |
| 3 |
Laval |
13 |
8 |
5 |
31 |
19 |
1133 |
1059 |
0.615 |
3.0 |
16 |
| 4 |
UQAM |
14 |
4 |
10 |
23 |
36 |
1173 |
1304 |
0.286 |
7.5 |
8 |
| 5 |
Sherbrooke |
13 |
3 |
10 |
17 |
33 |
1036 |
1147 |
0.231 |
8.0 |
6 |
| 6 |
Ottawa |
13 |
3 |
10 |
15 |
36 |
1047 |
1155 |
0.231 |
8.0 |
6 |
