MONTREAL – The long wait is finally over. For the first time in team history, the McGill University women's volleyball squad can call themselves champions.

Victoria Iannotti of St. Laurent, Que., registered a game-high 15.5 points and led the Martlets to a stirring come-from-behind 3-1 victory over Sherbrooke before about 500 spirited fans at Love Competition Hall on Saturday, in what can best be described as a "statement" game.

The Vert & Or claimed the opening set with a shocking and convincing 25-13 score, then jumped into a stranglehold 18-11 lead in the second set. But after a time-out, a relentless McGill machine flipped a switch and manoeuvred into overdrive, rallying with five straight points en route to a 14-5 run for a heart-fluttering 25-23 win. The Martlets then cruised through the next two sets, 25-19 and 25-15.

That result, combined with Thursday's 3-1 win in Sherbrooke, gave McGill a 2-0 sweep of the RSEQ best-of-three league championship series. And it was the first title in 31 years, over 30 seasons, for veteran head coach Rachele Beliveau, who has now guided her troops to their fourth-ever berth at the U SPORTS Final Eight national championship tournament, slated for Calgary, March 24-27. McGill's previous appearances at Nationals were all the result of wild-card berths that went to the runners-up in conferences that had won the national title the previous year. The Martlets finished sixth at the 1997 tourney, third in 2012 and tied for seventh in 2016.

"Sherbrooke started very strong, so we (countered) that in the second set by changing our strategy when switched to the other side of the court," said Béliveau, who upped her career record to 675-542-2 in 1,219 contests overall. ""As the second set (moved along), we started to play with more confidence. We have good depth and our players off the bench did an outstanding job and that paid off because we had some players who were tired after a tough match the night before. That's to be expected because we have played a lot of back-to-back playoff games in the last (nine days) after not doing that all season. It was a true team effort today. We showed a lot of resilience and character.

"The other key has been that in every game that we've played recently, it often seemed to be a different player who stepped up and played a leading role," Béliveau added. "It's been a demanding schedule and numerous players picked up their level of play and that made a big difference."

McGill had the edge in aces (9-4) and stuff blocks (8-4), while Sherbrooke had an advantage in kills (40-34) and digs (72-63).

"It feels really great and its a testament to the resilience and perseverance that we showed throughout the pandemic," said Iannotti, a co-captain and newly-minted first-team all-star power-hitter who racked up a game-high 15 kills, an assisted stuff block, five digs and one assist. "Everyone fights their own personal battles and we had our own struggles as a team but really pulled through.

"I'm really grateful to be able to give this win to our coach in her 30th season," added the third-year software engineering major, who is the conference's leadership award nominee for the national Therese Quiqley Award  "This result is a demonstration of the legacy that she leaves at this school and with the volleyball program."

Also in double digits was Clara Poire, a 6-foot-2 right-side hitter from Blainville, Que., who tallied 10.5 points. The kinesiology junior contributed eight kills, one ace and 1.5 blocks, to go along with four digs and three assists."

"We wanted to win for ourselves but also for our coach, she's been incredible," echoed co-captain Charlene Robitaille, a senior from Ste. Julie, Que., who received the league's player-of-the year honours in a pre-game ceremony. "We worked so hard through the pandemic. We prepared both mentally and physically and it made a difference.

"The first set was rough, mentally. We were all really nervous and wanted to play well in front of the big crowd," revealed Robitaille, who tallied five kills, three clutch service aces, 1.5 blocks and 11 digs. "The switch (in momentum) came in the middle of the second set when we had a good hit (for a point) and then a good serve. At that point we saw that they had some weaknesses. So we said, 'that they were not perfect and we can play too'. After coming back from an 18-10 (deficit) in the second set, we knew that it was possible to win.

"Sherbrooke is a really good team but so are we. There are a lot of competitive people on our team and we really worked on learning how to talk to each other and not being in our head. Creating our own boxes and not worrying about what's going on outside that box. Yes we had a great crowd and wanted to use some of that energy but we had to focus on what was going on between each player on the court. We have character and are competitive but we really like and trust each other."

Leading the scoring for Sherbrooke was Maude Frechette and Jael-Esther Telfort, with 12 and 9.5 points, respectively.

McGill's Catherine Vercheval, a 5-foot-9 libero from Ste. Julie, Que., played outstanding on defence and was credited with a game-high 16 digs and a pair of assists.

Her older sister Claire Vercheval, was among three Martlets on hand for the post-game celebrations. Claire and two other 2021 graduates, namely Rowan Fletcher and Elisabeth Perrault, were presented with framed game jerseys after missing the opportunity to be feted in front of the home crowd last year, due to the canceled season.

The Martlets, who improved to 14-5 overall and 4-1 in post-season play, are tentatively scheduled to depart for the Nationals in Calgary on March 22.

BOXSCORE

RSEQ STATS & STANDINGS

 

SEASON	QUEBEC CHAMPS	QUEBEC RESULTS AT NATIONALS
Années	Championnes	Résultats aux championnats canadiens
2021-22	McGill	.
2019-20	Montréal	Pas de championnat canadien en raison de la Covid-19
2018-19	Montréal	Montréal : tied for 7th
2017-18	Montréal	Montréal : 5th / Laval : 6th
2016-17	Montréal	Montréal : 4th
2015-16	Montréal	Montréal : 5th / McGill : tied for 7th
2014-15	Montréal	Montréal : 3rd / Laval : tied for 7th
2013-14	Laval	Laval : 3rd
2012-13	Montréal	Montréal : tied for 7th. / Sherbrooke : 5th / Laval : 6th
2011-12	Montréal	Montréal : 4th / McGill : 3rd
2010-11	Laval	Laval : 2nd / Montréal : 5th / Sherbrooke : tied for 7th
2009-10	Montréal	Montréal : tied for 7th / Laval : 3rd
2008-09	Montréal	Montréal : 3rd / Laval : 4th
2007-08	Montréal	Montréal : 2nd / Sherbrooke : 5th
2006-07	Laval	Laval : 2nd / Montréal : 5th
2005-06	Laval	* Laval : 1st / Montréal : 4th
2004-05	Sherbrooke	* Sherbrooke : 1st / Laval : 6th
2003-04	Laval	Laval : 3rd / Montréal : 6th
2002-03	Laval	Laval : 6e place / * Sherbrooke : 1re place
2001-02	Sherbrooke	Sherbrooke : 4e place / Laval : 5e place
2000-01	Laval	Laval : 3e place / Sherbrooke : 2e place
1999-00	Laval	Laval : 5e place / Montréal : 4e place
1998-99	Laval	Laval : 4e place / Montréal : 5e place
1997-98	Laval	Laval : 3e place / Montréal : 5e place
1996-97	Laval	Laval : 3e place / McGill : 6e place
1995-96	Laval	Laval : 2e place
1994-95	Laval	Laval : 2e place
1993-94	Montréal	Montréal : 4e place / Laval : 5e place
1992-93	Montréal	Montréal : 5e place / Laval : 8e place
1991-92	Laval	Laval : 6e place
1990-91	Montréal	Montréal : 8e place
1989-90	Laval	Laval : 6e place
1988-89	Laval	Laval : 3e place
1987-88	Sherbrooke	Sherbrooke : 2e place / Laval : 3e place
1986-87	Laval	Laval : 3e place / Sherbrooke : 5e place
1985-86	Sherbrooke	Sherbrooke : 3e place / Laval : 4e place
1984-85	Laval	Laval : 5e place
1983-84	Sherbrooke	Sherbrooke : 6e place / Laval : 4e place
1982-83	Laval	Laval : 4e place
1981-82	Laval	Laval : 4e place
1980-81	Laval	-
1979-80	Laval	-
1978-79	Laval	-
1977-78	Sherbrooke	-
1976-77	Sherbrooke	-
1975-76	Sherbrooke	-
1974-75	Laval	-
1973-74	Sherbrooke	-
1972-73	Laval	-
* : Titre canadien / National champions from Quebec

SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-398-7012
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca