MONTREAL --
Claire Vercheval scored a game-high 17.5 points and
Charlene Robitaille added 15 as McGill rallied from a one-set deficit to upend the upstart Montreal Citadins 3-1 at Love Competition Hall, Friday. The set scores were 18-25, 25-18, 25-16 and 25-22,
The result moved McGill (4-5) into a tie for third place with UQAM (4-3) in the Quebec league standings, although the Citadins hold two games in hand.
Despite the score, the match was fairly even in the statistical department, with McGill gaining the upper-hand in stuff blocks (10-4) and digs (69-61) but UQAM held an advantage in kills (45-44), service aces (13-9) and assists (41-38).
Vercheval, a 6-foot-1 power-hitter from Ste. Julie, Que., racked up 16 kills to go along with 1.5 blocks. The physical education senior added nine digs and an assist.
"After losing the first set, I made a number of lineup changes and it really changed the momentum in our favour," explained McGill head coach
Rachele Beliveau. "The substitutes did really well and raised their level of play. We used a lot of people today and it worked well. Everybody did what they had to do. We have good depth and that is a positive that we need to utilize when the opportunity presents itself."
Robitaille, who was playing with an injured hand, contributed nine kills, four blocks and a pair of ace. The sophomore middle-blocker from St. Jean, Que., added seven digs and two assists.
Elisabeth Perrault, a senior from Laval, Que., collected seven kills, two aces, an assisted block, six digs and one assist. Team captain
Rowan Fletcher of Montreal West, and
Catherine Vercheval, Claire's younger sister, led the Martlets with 14 digs apiece, while senior
Clare Nishikawa of Ottawa, added 10.
Freshman setter
Audrey Trottier of Longueuil, Que., came off the bench to register 23 assists on 24 balls handled. She also added three aces and three digs.
UQAM had four players in double digit scoring.
Marina Ajavon led the way with 15.5 points, followed by
Jeanne Laporte (13),
Sabrina Mayer (10.5) and
Frederique Nicole (10).
The Citadins (4-3) will get a day to ponder what happened before returning to the court on Sunday for a home matinee against visiting Ottawa (0-7).
McGill (4-5), meanwhile, has a week of preparation ahead to avenge an early season loss to Sherbrooke (3-3). the Martlets will host UdeS on Nov. 22 in a 6;30 tip-off.
BOXSCORE
RSEQ STANDINGS & STATS
