MONTREAL -- She may have a different jersey number but there was no mistake that she was back to business.
Myriam Robitaille of Terrebonne, Que., made her boomerang debut with a game-high 16.5 points as the McGill University women's volleyball team opened defence of their regular season pennant with a convincing 3-1 victory over visiting Laval at Love Competition Hall, Thursday.
The set scores were 25-21, 25-14, 19-25 and 25-16.
It was McGill fourth straight win over the Rouge et Or since snapping a four-game losing streak after dropping the first meeting 3-0 last year, in the provincial capital on Nov. 4, 2018.
"The girls were ready to play tonight, and I think that having the two exhibition games at home against Saint Mary's last weekend was a factor," said head coach coach
Rachele Beliveau, who has returned for her 29th season at the helm.
The Martlets had an advantage in all the key departments, including kills (44-39), service aces (14-10), stuff blocks (8-3), digs (43-40) and assists (43-38).
Robitaille, who was returning to the lineup for her fifth year after a season off, was wearing No.2 after four seasons in the saddle with No. 16. The six-foot middle blocker registered 10 kills, four aces, 2.5 blocks and one dig.
"Not only did Myriam play really well on offence but she had a solid defensive game with some key blocks," noted Beliveau. "But we had a good performance from everybody tonight, including our bench. It was a really good team performance to start the season."
Joining Robitaille in double digits scoring was senior
Claire Vercheval, the league's player of the year last season, who tallied 15 points. The 6-foot-1 power-hitter from Ste. Julie, Que., posted a dozen kills and three aces, to go along with eight digs on defence.
Other scorers for McGill included
Elisabeth Perrault (9.5 pts), team captain
Rowan Fletcher (8.5 pts, 10 digs),
Charlene Robitaille (8),
Andreanne Tremblay (7.5) and freshman
Victoria Iannotti (1). Tremblay, a third-year setter from Longueuil, Que., collected a game-high 30 assists.
Laval had three players in double figures, led by
Maud Chapleau (16 pts),
Maraianne St-Aubin (13) and
Anne-Sophie Tanguay (11).
The Martlets are coming off their first-ever regular season pennant last year. They finished atop the RSEQ conference with a 17-3 mark, setting a school record for wins. This year's squad features a veteran lineup, composed of seven seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen.
McGill, which improved to 9-4 overall and 1-0 in league play, will now face their next test when they make the short jaunt downtown to take on the upstart UQAM Citadins (0-0) on Sunday (Oct. 20) at 2 p.m.
The Rouge et Or (0-1) will host Sherbrooke (0-0) on Oct. 19 at 6 p.m.
BOXSCORE
2019-20 RSEQ WOMEN'S UNIVERSITY VOLLEYBALL
| 1 |
McGill |
1 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
94 |
76 |
1.000 |
0.0 |
2 |
| 2 |
Montréal |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.000 |
0.5 |
0 |
| 3 |
Ottawa |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.000 |
0.5 |
0 |
| 4 |
Sherbrooke |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.000 |
0.5 |
0 |
| 5 |
UQAM |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0.000 |
0.5 |
0 |
| 6 |
Laval |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
76 |
94 |
0.000 |
1.0 |
0 |
