QUEBEC CITY – Justine Raymond of Victoriaville, Que., scored a game-high 17.5 points, on the strength of 13 kills, as Laval upset No.8 ranked McGill 3-0 in women’s volleyball at Centre PEPS, Friday.
After winning the first two sets 25-22 and 25-19, Laval produced a stunning rally in the third set, overcoming a 23-16 deficit to prevail 26-24.
“It was certainly not the result that we were expecting,” said a disappointed McGill head coach Rachele Beliveau, whose team bus arrived about 30 minutes late after plowing through a snow-storm during a 265-kilometre trip to the provincial capital. “That should not be an excuse for the way we played today. Although a slow start might have been expected, we should have been able to adjust which we couldn’t do today..We started to play better in the third set but for some reason, we ran into a lot of unforced errors. We were inconsistent with our execution.”
Montrealer Rachel Leduc led the Martlets with 14 points, including a dozen kills, one service ace and a pair of assisted stuff blocks. The 6-foot-1 power-hitter, a management freshman who transferred from Camosun College in Alberta, also contributed six digs.
Charlene Robitaille of St. Jean, Que., was the only other member of the Martlets to reach double digits, collecting 11.5 points on eight kills, three aces and an assisted block, in addition to nine digs.
Teammate Catherine Vercheval of Ste. Julie, Que., contributed a team-leading 11 digs and three assists. High-octane power-hitters Clara Poire and Victoria Iannotti were limited to just 7.5 and 5.5 points, respectively.
The Rouge et Or had the upper-hand in kills (41-34), aces (9-5), blocks (8-7), digs (57-56) and assists (37-33).
The result improved Laval’s record to 5-6 putting the Rouge et Or into a tie with Sherbrooke (5-6) for the fourth and final playoff berth in the RSEQ conference, with seven games remaining. McGill dropped to third place with a 7-4 record. The Martlets trail division-leading Montreal (9-2) and second-place UQAM (7-3).
McGill will have a week to lick it’s wounds before hosting sixth-place Ottawa (3-8) in the team’s annual ‘Dig for the Cure’ fundraiser for breast cancer on Jan. 20 at Love Competition Hall. That event is slated for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. Laval returns to the court on the same date with a key road trip to Sherbrooke in a confrontation that could decide the final playoff berth.
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