SHERBROOKE – Co-captains Charlene Robitaille and Victoria Iannotti scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, as McGill swept Sherbrooke 3-0 to open the second semester of women’s volleyball in the RSEQ conference at the Arena Yvon Lamarche, Friday. The set scores were 25-23, 26-24 and 25-21.
It was the Martlets first competition after 42 days off during the exam and holiday break – believed to be the team’s longest mid-season break without exhibition play – since a 3-0 win over ETS on Nov. 29. It marked McGill’s first sweep at Sherbrooke since Feb. 14, 2020 and gave the Martlets a 2-1 season series victory in its final meeting with the Vert & Or.
The result moved McGill ahead of Sherbrooke in the eight-team RSEQ conference standings. The Martlets improved to 8-4, one win behind the division-leading Montreal Carabins (9-3). Ottawa (8-5) is tied with McGill but has played one more game. Sherbrooke now sits in a three-way tie for fourth and final playoff berth with UQAM and Laval. All three are 7-5.
“We’re happy with the win,” said McGill head coach Rachele Beliveau, who sounded relieved more than anything. “I think that some sequences were pretty good with respect to our defence and ability to fight back. It was our first game in a long time and we showed some instability but Sherbrooke was the same so we were even in that area. We had some good training sessions during the long break and that was a factor. We have made a big progression on defence. The difference today was that we came from behind to win some key points in the first two sets when the score was really tight.”
Robitaille, a diploma in management senior from St. Jean, Que., had nine kills, one ace and a stuff block to go along with four digs and one assist. Iannotti, a software engineering senior from St. Laurent, Que., registered seven kills, one ace and two blocks, in addition to three digs.
Sherbrooke appeared to have the edge in all statistical categories except in service aces – where McGill registered an 8-6 advantage – and on the scoreboard.
Three members of the Vert & Or reached double-digits in scoring, led by Jael-Esther Telfort (13), Britanie Maranda (12) and Gabrielle Minier (10.5).
McGill (8-4) hosts Laval (7-5) on Sunday (Jan. 14) in a 1 p.m. tip-off at Love Competition Hall.
Sherbrooke will head on the road for three games, beginning with a pair of confrontations at UQTR (Jan. 14 & 19) and at Montreal (Jan. 21).
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