MONTREAL --
Maude Babin scored 15 points as second-ranked Montreal swept No. 9 McGill 25-17, 25-10 and 25-12 in RSEQ women's volleyball, Friday, at the Centre CEPSUM.
The Carabins (16-2) claimed the season series 3-1 and improved their head-to-head record to 5-1 on the year, including two preseason meetings. More importantly, they also clinched first place in the conference standings. With two contests left to play the Martlets (13-5) have a four-point gap over third-place Laval (11-6), which has a game in hand.
Montreal had a 34-23 advantage in kills, a 14-3 margin in blocks and a 12-2 difference in service aces, while the Martlets led 31-25 in digs.
"Montreal played really well tonight," admitted McGill head coach
Rachele Beliveau. "That's probably the best game I've seen them play in a long time. Our serving was okay but we couldn't put the same pressure on them. It seemed like they were passing well, blocking well, and hitting well -- we couldn't find any weaknesses to take advantage of. We didn't serve badly, but we couldn't put enough pressure on their serve receive. Everyone seemed to play really well at the same time on their side, which made it tough. On our side, our serve receive wasn't that bad. The hitting was a little tougher, but again, they were on top of us all the time."
McGill was led by team captain
Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., who registered eight points. The six-foot middle blocker had six kills, an ace and a block.
Elisabeth Perreault had five points and
Rowan Fletcher registered 4.5 points, while
Claire Vercheval was limited to just 3.5 points. Libero
Marjolaine Ste-Marie of St. Lambert, Que., paced the team's defensive effort with a game-high 10 digs.
Babin earned her points with 10 kills, an ace, three stuff blocks and two assisted blocks. She also had six digs.
Carabins teammates
Marie-Alex Bélanger and
Adryanna Doriamond-Rodrigue followed with 13 points each. Bélanger posted 10 kills and three aces while Doriamond-Rodrigue had nine kills, an ace and six assisted blocks.
Camille Santerre recorded 11 points from two kills, four aces, two stuff blocks and six assisted blocks.
McGill can clinch second place ahead of Laval (11-6) with a win over last-place UQAM (4-13) on Friday, Feb. 16 at 7 p.m. at Love Competition Hall. The Martlets will then close out the regular season at Ottawa (4-13) on Feb. 17 at 2 pm. The Carabins (16-2) visit Sherbrooke (4-13) on Feb. 16. Sherbrooke, Ottawa and UQAM are all tied for the fourth and final playoff berth.
2017-18 RSEQ WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS (20-game schedule)
| 1 |
Montréal |
18 |
16 |
2 |
48 |
19 |
1562 |
1291 |
0.889 |
0.0 |
32 |
| 2 |
McGill |
18 |
13 |
5 |
44 |
24 |
1513 |
1435 |
0.722 |
3.0 |
26 |
| 3 |
Laval |
17 |
11 |
6 |
42 |
27 |
1546 |
1457 |
0.647 |
4.5 |
22 |
| 4 |
Sherbrooke |
17 |
4 |
13 |
21 |
44 |
1353 |
1513 |
0.235 |
11.5 |
8 |
| 5 |
Ottawa |
17 |
4 |
13 |
24 |
47 |
1453 |
1580 |
0.235 |
11.5 |
8 |
| 6 |
UQAM |
17 |
4 |
13 |
27 |
45 |
1444 |
1595 |
0.235 |
11.5 |
8 |
