MONTREAL -- Montrealer
Emilie Matte De Grasse was named tournament MVP as the McGill University women's volleyball team won three of four games to capture the 28th annual Martlet Invitational, a four-team competition at Love Competition Hall, that concluded on Saturday. It marked the second time in four years that McGill had won their own tourney but only the the fourth time since the event was initiated in 1991.
The Martlets had an inauspicious debut, suffering a 3-2 loss to UQAM in Friday's opener but roared back later that evening to sweep the Montreal Carabins, an omnipotent opponent that has won seven of the last nine confrontations. McGill followed up on Saturday with a 3-0 win over Saint Mary's and then avenged their setback to UQAM with a 25-19, 25-20, 25-21 sweep in the gold medal contest.
Matte De Grasse, a 5-foot-10 power-hitter who turns 25 later this week, scored a tourney-leading 60.5 points over 14 sets played, with 44 kills, seven service aces and 9.5 stuff blocks. The fifth-year physical education senior also registered 34 digs, three assists, a 37 per cent kill percentage and a 27 per cent kill efficiency.
"Emilie has been very consistent in all three of our tournaments so far," said head coach
Rachele Beliveau, who now owns a
620-517-2 overall record in 1,139 career contests over her 28 years at McGill. "She also served very well over the weekend and and is our go-to hitter, so we count on her to end our rallies."
She was one of three McGill players to make the all-tournament team, along with sophomore
Andreanne Tremblay of Longueuil, Que., and rookie
Charlene Robitaille of Mont St. Gregoire, Que.
Tremblay is a 5-foot-10 setter who amassed a tourney-leading 110 assists in 14 sets. The occupational therapy major also contributed 16 kills, nine aces, 36 digs, 7.5 blocks and a team-leading 48 per cent in both kill percentage and kill efficiency.
Robitaille, a six-foot middle blocker, registered 55 points on 32 kills, 12 aces and 11 blocks. A science freshman majoring in dietetics, she also contributed eight digs to go along with a 45 kill percentage and a 35 per cent efficiency.
The Martlets posted a 9-5 record in exhibition play and their early season success, winning two of their three tourneys, has been nothing short of remarkable considering that they have been plagued with injuries to a number of veteran starters.
Missing on the sidelines over the weekend was a lot of offence, led by juniors
Claire Vercheval, a 6-foot-1 power-hitter and
Elisabeth Perrault, a 5-foot-10 middle blocker, in addition to senior setter
Catherine Duchaine, senior right-side hitter
Clare Nishikawa and junior
Jane Van Ryn, a six-foot middle blocker.
"I was very pleased with our success and level of play in the preseason," said Beliveau. "Because the injuries (forced us to) use a lot of our younger players and they able to perform at a high level. We have worked hard on our defence and it is much improved."
The team roster is composed of five seniors, five juniors, two sophomores and five freshmen.
Rowan Fletcher, a junior from Montreal, will serve as team captain aided by alternates Matte De Grasse and Perrault.
"We have a lot of potential and our strength will be our depth and maturity," said Beliveau. "Most of our veterans had significant playing time during their first two years and they have developed significantly. I can see that they are now much more comfortable on the court, especially the way they handle the ball. We are committing many fewer errors than at this time in previous years. We will be counting on that depth to help us win games in a very competitive conference, especially with all the injury issues that we have had."
The Martlets, who finished second in the six-team Quebec conference with a 14-6 record last year, have a week off to mend their broken wings in preparation for the RSEQ season opener on Thursday, Oct. 18 at 6:30 p.m. against a much-improved UQAM squad, which finished fourth last year at 6-14.
28th ANNUAL McGILL MARTLET INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE & RESULTS
(All games played at Love Competition Hall)
Friday, October 5, 2018
Montreal 3, Saint Mary's 2 (25-22, 25-18, 25-23)
UQAM 3, McGill 2 (25-20, 25-20, 16-25, 11-25, 15-12)
UQAM 3, Saint Mary's 1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-13, 25-13)
McGill 3, Montreal 0 (25-20, 25-13, 25-16)
Saturday, October 6, 2018
UQAM 3, Montreal 1 (25-21, 28-26, 21-25, 25-21)
McGill 3, Saint Mary's 0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-18)
Saint Mary's 3, Montreal 2 ( 23-25, 24-26, 25-16, 25-19, 15-10)
BRONZE MEDAL GAME
McGill 3, UQAM 0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-21)
GOLD MEDAL GAME
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Emilie
Matte De Grasse, McGill (
Tourney MVP)
Charlène
Robitaille, McGill
Andreanne
Tremblay, McGill
Sabrina
Mayer, UQAM
Marie-Pier
Séguin, UQAM
