Martlets volleyballers feast on maritime offerings
MONTREAL – They say that there’s nothing like home cooking and
the next best thing for the McGill women’s volleyball team is a
heaping serving of maritime food from the Atlantic University Sport
conference.
The Martlets, who have been rumoured to salivate like Pavlov’s dog
when getting a chance to play some league games against the AUS,
swept all four interlocking matches at the Currie gymnasium over
the weekend.
McGill clawed the UPEI Panthers 3-0 on Friday, winning by set
scores of 26-24, 25-12 and 25-22.
The next day, they outlasted the UNB Red Devils in a see-saw,
five-set affair (23-25, 25-19, 25-20, 20-25 and 15-10) that took
two hours and three minutes to play. Some four hours later, McGill
bounced back to chop down the Cape Breton Capers 25-18, 25-23 and
25-22.
The McGill women wrapped up a perfect weekend on Sunday by
mastering Moncton 26-24-25-18 and 25-24.
The four-match sweep gave the Martlets an 8-1 record in
interlocking play this season and an impressive 34-2 record in
interlocking contests since the unique scheduling concept between
the Quebec and Atlantic conferences began in 2005-06.
All-Canadian Jennifer Thomson and junior Kelsey Irwin accounted for
the bulk of the McGill scoring over the weekend.
Thomson, a 5-foot-7 power hitter from Rosemere, Que., racked up 64
points in 14 sets, including 56 kills, seven aces and one block.
The 21-year-old physical education senior also contributed a
team-leading 70 digs and an impressive 2.6 passing ratio out of
3.
Irwin, a 6-foot middle blocker from Vancouver, B.C., accumulated 60
points with 47 kills, one ace and 12 blocks. She also had 24
digs.
Sarah Howell, the 5-foot-5 libero from Montreal, registered 57 digs
over the weekend.
The Martlets now sit tied with Laval for second in the four-team
Quebec conference with a 10-4 record, four victories shy of
first-place Montreal. Laval is 10-3 and holds a game in hand on
McGill, while a highly-competitive Sherbrooke squad brings up the
rear at 8-6.
McGill will close out the first semester by hosting Sherbrooke on
Nov. 28. The Martlets have beaten the Vert & Or in both
meetings to date, winning 3-0 and 3-1 in a pair of road matches.
After the exam break, they will be heading to a training camp in
Florida, Dec. 28-31, to hone their skills and no doubt work on
their tans.