MONTREAL --
Josiane Aubuchon and
Jeanne Laporte each scored 9.5 points as the UQAM Citadins surprised visiting McGill 3-0, Saturday, to even the RSEQ best-of-three women's volleyball semifinal series at 1-1. The set scores were 25-14, 25-19 and 25-23.
The result avenged a 3-0 loss at McGill in Game 1 on Friday. The rubber match is slated for Sunday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. in Love Competition Hall, with a berth to the national championships on the line.
The Citadins had a 30-23 edge in kills and a 10-2 advantage in service aces against the Martlets, who registered a 58-50 margin in digs.
"UQAM never gives up, they played very well today and we didn't play great," said Martlet head coach
Rachele Beliveau. "We had a very good warm-up then started the game with a couple mistakes. We usually come back from that but we became tense and UQAM took advantage of their opportunity."
Aubuchon scored her points on eight kills, one service ace, and an assisted block. She also added 13 digs. Laporte contributed nine kills and one assisted block along with seven digs.
"Statistically, we didn't pass well and that really didn't help us," noted Beliveau, whose troops had an uncharacteristically low passing ratio of 1.6 (out of 3).
The Martlets were led by
Claire Vercheval of St. Julie, Que., and Montrealer
Emilie Matte de Grasse with eight points apiece. Both registered their points on six kills, one stuff block and a pair of assisted blocks. Vercheval tallied 11 digs while Matte de Grasse had six. Martlet freshman
Charlene Robitaille was next with 6.5 points.
"Today the girls wanted to have the game over before it was played, we were not ready to play but ready for the results," noted Beliveau. "I'm confident we will be ready in Game 3 at home, where we serve better and pass well on our court."
The winner of the series will go on to play either second-seeded Montreal or third-seeded Laval in the RSEQ finals. Both Quebec finalists will secure a berth to the U SPORTS national championship tourney in Edmonton, hosted by the University of Alberta, Mar. 15-17.
