MONTREAL – Masha Solaja of Toronto, came off the bench to spark an epic comeback as fourth-ranked McGill rallied from a two set deficit to stun the No. 5 Montreal Carabins 3-2 in a key women’s volleyball confrontation at the Centre CEPSUM, Friday.
The Martlets dropped the first two sets 25-23 and 25-21. Undaunted, they roared back to win 25-23, 26-24 and 15-6 in a back-and-forth contest that took two hours and seven minutes to play.
Solaja, a 5-foot-11 power-hitter, contributed eight kills, with one assisted block and a dig.
“Solaja had a big impact on our game tonight,” said McGill head coach Rachele Beliveau of the 20-year-old math and computer science junior. “She came in during the third set and changed the momentum in our favor.”
This was a statement game for McGill, which improved to 7-3 and moved into a tie with UQAM for second place in the seven-team RSEQ conference. The division-leading Carabins dropped to 8-2 and sit precariously perched with a two-point lead on both McGill and UQAM. It also marked McGill’s eighth consecutive win against their cross-town rivals, dating back to a 3-2 loss on Nov. 29, 2019.
“That was an outstanding come back for the team after losing the first two sets,” Beliveau said. “We showed great fight and team unity.”
Senior Clara Poiré scored a team-high 15 points. The 6-foot-2, right-side hitter from Blainville, Que., racked up 10 kills, a game-high four service aces and a pair of assisted blocks. The 23-year-old kinesiology senior also contributed seven digs.
She was one of three Martlets to reach double digits in scoring, along with Victoria Iannotti (11.5 points) and Meaghan Smith (10.5). Teammate Charlene Robitaille provided spectacular defence with a game-high 14 digs, to go along with five kills, five assisted blocks, one assist and a 2.18 passing ratio (out of 3).
Setter Audrey Trottier registered a game-high 33 assists, seven digs and an assisted block, offering a solid performance throughout the game to destabilize Montreal’s blocking. McGill had an 11-6 edge in stuff blocks.
Pacing the Carabins offence with a lofty 22.5 points was Olympe Desmedt, on the strength of 21 kills.
Montreal had the upper-hand in kills (56-42), aces (14-5) and digs (57-54). The Martlets produced a kill rate of 18.1 per cent (42/127), compared to Montreal’s feeble 7.6 per cent success rate (56/171).
Both teams return to the court on Jan. 13 when McGill (7-3) plays at Laval (4-6) and Montreal (8-2) travels to take on last-place UQTR (2-8).
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