MONTREAL -- The McGill University women's volleyball team opened their campaign at the UQAM Preseason Tournament, a three-day affair that concluded on Sunday with a 4-1 record and silver medal finish after a 3-0 loss to the host team in the final. The set scores were 25-23, 25-18 and 25-22.

McGill reached the final by winning their first four matches. They opened on Friday with a pair of 3-1 victories over Queen's (25-9, 25-29, 17-25, 25-22) and Ottawa (25-14, 23-25, 25-10, 25-17).

On Day 2, the Martlets swept both UNB (25-13, 25-14, 25-15) and Nipissing (25-13, 28-26, 25-20).

"We didn't really play our game and seemed a little too focussed on the new UQAM lineup," said Rachele Beliveau, who has returned for her 29th season and enters the preseason with a 640-523-2 record in 1,165 career contests overall.

"They have a number of key new players, including a setter from France who we obviously hadn't seen before.  So we seemed a little too preoccupied with what UQAM was going to do rather than focussing on what we wanted to do.

"(Losing like that to UQAM) was a bit of a wake-up call for us. We have a good team with lots of potential but we still have to execute. We will use our extensive preseason schedule to evaluate our lineup and learn how to function together cohesively as a unit. We look at what works well and what doesn't work and then make adjustments."

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, captained by Rowan Fletcher,a political science senior from Montreal West, Que., features a veteran lineup, composed of seven seniors, two juniors, five sophomores and seven freshmen.

Sophomore Charlene Robitaille of St. Jean, Que., and senior Claire Vercheval of Ste. Julie, Que., paced the Martlets over the weekend.

Robitaille, a six-foot middle blocker, 37k and seven aces in 17 sets. She added 33 digs, four stuff blocks, seven assisted blocks, a .53 kill percentage (43% efficiency) and a 1.94 passing ratio out of 3.0.

Vercheval, a 6-foot-1 power-hitter, amassed 42 kills and six aces. She had a .34 kill percentage (26%  efficiency), 33 digs, two stuff blocks, and three assisted blocks.

Another key contributor was Clare Nishikawa, a fifth-year senior from Ottawa, who came off the bench and was impactful on defence, registering 29 digs and a 1.96 passing ratio.

The team is off next week and returns to action at the Ottawa Invitational tourney, Oct. 4-6.

SOURCE:
 
Earl Zukerman
Communications Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012 (Tel.)
E-MAIL: earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca