Volleyball squad loses battle but wins war in balmy Brandon

(Photo of Kaiva Mateus by Andrew Dobrowolskyj)

BRANDON, MAN. -- The McGill women's volleyball team may have lost the battle for gold but they won the war, so to speak, at the Conferences of Canada Challenge tournament hosted by Brandon University, Dec. 28-31. The Martlets were swept 3-0 by Dalhousie in the tourney final but came away with victories against the two other CIS conferences that were participating at the event.

Despite a 31-day layoff during the exam and holiday break, McGill opened the tourney with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over host Brandon in the opener on Dec. 29, winning by set scores of 26-28, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 15-8.

Friday, the Martlets dropped a 3-2 decision to Dalhousie in a marathon match that took two hours and 26 minutes to play. The set scores were 20-25, 18-25, 25-16, 25-17 and 11-15. The win by the Tigers avenged their 3-1 loss to McGill at the Martlet Invitational on Oct. 14.

McGill bounced back a few hours later with a 25-19, 25-23, 25-18 sweep over Guelph.

In the gold medal affair on Saturday, Dalhousie defeated McGill 25-20, 25-15 and 25-22.

"Basically our offence was just not clicking today," said McGill head coach Rachèle Béliveau. "We had a very difficult time trying to score against Dalhousie, but we had a productive tournament, reaching the gold medal game despite missing our starting libero."

Daphnée-Maude André-Morin, a third-year veteran from Kitchener, Ont., was unable to make the trip out to the frozen tundra of the mid-west as she was attending a family wedding somewhere in the tropics. Her starting spot at libero was filled in by sophomore Kristina Pavlovic, normally a power-hitter, from Richmond, B.C.

Leading the way for McGill over the tourney was senior Kaiva Mateus, a 6-foot-1 middle blocker from Montreal West, who registered 52 kills over the 16 sets played. She added 20 digs, 6.5 stuff blocks and a pair of aces.

Teammate Genevieve Plante, a sophomore power-hitter from Montreal, who contributed 38 kills, 59 digs, 5 stuff blocks and two aces.

The Martlets now own a 17-11 record overall and will spend New Year's eve in Brandon, before heading to Winnipeg for a few scrimmages with the Winnipeg Lady Wesmen. The two teams will play a formal exhibition game on Jan. 4. Then the Martlets travelling road show will conclude their lengthy trip on Jan. 7 when they head to Ottawa for an exhibition contest against the Gee-Gees.

McGILL HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TOURNAMENT:

Dec. 29 (W 3-2 vs Brandon):

Genevieve Plante (18 kills, 1 stuff block, 11 digs, 1 ace, 1.75 passing ratio)

Emily Kyte (13 kills, 1 stuff block, 9 digs, 2.28 passing ratio)

Kaiva Mateus (15 kills, 1 stuff block, 1 assisted block, 7 digs, 3 aces)

Dec. 30 (L 3-2 vs Dalhousie):

Genevieve Plante (10 kills, 2 stuff blocks, 1 assisted block, 17 digs, 1 ace, 2.12 passing ratio)

Emily Kyte (13 kills, 1 stuff block, 25 digs, 1.91 passing ratio)

Kaiva Mateus (15 kills, 2 stuff block, 1 assisted block, 4 digs)

Dec. 30 (W 3-0 vs Guelph):

Marie-Christine Lapointe (11 kills, 1 stuff block, 2 assisted blocks, 11 digs, 2 ace, 2.10 passing ratio)

Marcela Mansure (36 assists, 4 kills, 1 stuff block, 7 digs, 1 ace)

Kaiva Mateus (14 kills, 1 stuff block, 1 ace)

Genevieve Plante (8 kills, 1 stuff blocks, 20 digs)

Dec. 31 (L 3-0 vs Dalhousie):

(GOLD MEDAL GAME):

Kaiva Mateus:  8 kills, 2 stuff blocks, 7 digs,1 ace

Jacqueline Ng: 5 kills (42%), 2 digs, 1 ace

Virginie Hébert: 3 kills (60%),

Geneviève Plante: serve receive 2.38, 2 kills, 1 stuff block, 11 digs

Marie-Christine Lapointe: Serve receive 2.38, 5 kills, 2 stuffed blocks, 4 digs

Round-robin standings

Dalhousie 3-0

Guelph 2-1

McGill 2-1

Brandon 0-3

Dec. 29

Dalhousie 3, Guelph 2 (25-20, 24-26, 21-25, 25-19, 15-9)

McGill 3, Brandon 2 (26-28, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 15-8)

Dec. 30

Guelph 3, Brandon 2 (17-25, 20-25, 25-10, 25-22, 15-10)

Dalhousie 3, McGill 2 (25-20, 25-18, 16-25, 17-25, 15-11)

McGill 3, Guelph 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-18)

Dalhousie 3, Brandon 1 (28-26, 16-25, 26-24, 25-21)

Dec. 31

GOLD: Dalhousie 3, McGill 2 (25-20, 25-15, 25-22)

BRONZE: Guelph 3, Brandon 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20)

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

McGill Athletics & Recreation

514-398-7012