McGill volleyball foursome merit laureates as RSEQ all-stars and awards announced

MONTREAL – A foursome from the McGill University women’s volleyball team is among the 2023-24 laureates announced by the RSEQ conference. Clara Poiré of Blainville, Que., and Victoria Iannotti of St. Laurent, Que., were named among the league’s first-team all-stars, while Charlène Robitaille of St. Jean, Que., made the second squad and Brook Brown, an American from Largo, Fla., merited the Leadership and Community Service Award.

Poiré, 24, who was a second-team all-star last year, is a 6-foot-2, right-side hitter. She ranked sixth among league scoring leaders per set (3.56), sixth in digs per set (2.64), seventh in kills per set (2.99) and ninth in hitting percentage (.279). In 77 sets, she led the team in kills (230), aces (21) and digs (203), to go along with nine blocks, 33 assisted blocks and 11 assists. The fifth-year senior is completing a certificate in accounting after graduating last year with an education degree in kinesiology
 
Iannotti, 24, who earns first-team status for the third consecutive season, is a 5-foot-9, left-side hitter. The fifth-year software engineering senior ranked fifth among league leaders in points per set (3.85), fifth in kills per set (3.14) and 18th in hitting percentage (.224). Despite missing six regular season games dues to injury, she had 179 kills, 17 service aces, 15 assists, 128 digs, 15 blocks and 18 assisted blocks in 57 sets played.
 
Robitaille, 25, is a four-time all-star, including a pair of previous on the first-team. The former two-time All-Canadian is a 5-foot-9, left-side hitter. She ranked first among league leaders in blocks per set (0.92), sixth in hitting percentage (.305), 10th in points set (3.21), 12th in kills per set (2.37) and 13th in digs per set (2.39) and 13th in blocks per set (0.58). She was the team’s only one to play in all 79 sets and registered 187 kills, a team-leading 21 aces, 189 digs, 18 blocks, 55 assisted blocks and 35 assists,

Robitaille is in her sixth year of study at McGill, where she is completing at diploma in management after graduating in 2022 with a science degree in nutrition and dietetics.
 
Brown is a 22-year-old biology senior in her third year of collegiate eligibility, who qualified for the Principal’s Student-athlete Honour Roll. This marks the 11th time that a player from McGill has merited the conference nomination for the national Thérèse Quigley Award for leadership. The six-foot power-hitter was converted to middle blocker this season. She started in 13 of 21 games and ranked 10th among league leaders in blocks per set (0.61). She added 94 digs, 48 kills, 22 assists, nine service aces, nine stuff blocks and 33 assisted blocks in 62 sets.

In terms of community service, Brown served as the operations coordinator for “Reform and Resettle”, a student-run organization that cooks meals and delivers them to the homeless population in Montreal. the mission of this group is to provide a better quality of life and end the negative stigma around homelessness.

Previous McGillians to win the RSEQ leadership award were Anne Mullin (1999), Rebecca Gomez (2007), Kaiva Mateus (2012), Geneviève Plante (2013), Virginie Hébert (2015), Myriam Robitaille (2017),  Marjolaine Ste-Marie (2018), Rowan Fletcher (TWICE: 2019 & 2020) and Victoria Iannotti (2022).

2023-24 RSEQ WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL HONOURS
 

SOURCE
Earl Zukerman
Sports Information Officer
Athletics & Recreation
McGill University
514-983-7012 (cell.)
www.mcgillathletics.ca
earl.zukerman@mcgill.ca