TROIS-RIVIERES, QUE – Three players scored in double digits as the visiting McGill women’s volleyball team swept UQTR 3-0, Thursday, to tie the school record with their eighth consecutive victory. The Martlets won by set scores of 28-26, 25-21 and 25-18, extending another record streak to 19 straight sets won.
The win streak equals the school mark set in 2018-19. The Martlets haven’t tasted defeat since Nov. 22, a 3-0 loss at Laval and they haven’t dropped a set since a fourth set loss in a 3-2 win against visiting Laval on Jan. 12.
With two games remaining before playoffs, the result moved McGill (12-7) into third place. But the Martlets sit a precarious two points ahead of Laval (11-6) and four ahead of UQAM (10-7), both of whom hold two games in hand. It was a knockout punch to UQTR, which dropped to 4-14 and was eliminated from the playoff race.
“It was a much tougher game that the final score indicated,” said Rachèle Béliveau – in her 34th year as head coach at McGill – who was honoured with a huge bouquet of flowers by the Patriotes in a classy pre-game ceremony that featured three officials speaking about her impending retirement and what she has meant for the women in sport movement. “They are a good fighting team that excels on defence. The place was packed with people and very noisy, it was hard to communicate on the court. UQTR played so well in the first set that we had to be patient, find solutions and work harder for our points.”
Despite only playing three sets, the game featured a whopping 140 digs, including a season-high 77 by the Martlets. Sophomore setter Selima Guidara led the Martlets with 19 digs, to go along with 31 assists, one ace and one kill.
“The defence was incredible today, on both sides, ” Beliveau noted. “Everything we hit, they found a way to dig the ball. We had to raise the level of our game on defence to match them. Our team passed for 2.09 (out of 3) and it is rare that we pass that well.”
Three Martlets were involved in all the passing, namely Emma Waskiewicz(2.17), Rachel Leduc(2.09) and the aforementioned Lajmi (2.0)
McGill also had the edge in kills (42-31), aces (5-3) and assists (40-29) but UQTR registered 10 of the 15 stuff blocks made in the game.
The Patriotes were led by Marie-Pierre Gauvin (12.5 points) and Camille Fortier (10.5).
McGill (12-7) will close out the schedule with two key home games. The Martlets will host UQAM (10-7) on Super Bowl Sunday (Feb. 9) at 1 p.m., followed by a visit from the division-leading Montreal Carabins (16-1) on Feb. 16. That last game of the regular season is slated to be a special one as it will feature a sendoff to the team’s graduating seniors in addition to a post-game tribute to Coach Béliveau.
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