Volleyball squad loses battle but wins war in balmy Brandon
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(Photo of Kaiva Mateus by Andrew Dobrowolskyj)
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BRANDON, MAN. -- The ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 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, ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 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 ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ at the Martlet Invitational on Oct. 14.
±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 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 ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 25-20, 25-15 and 25-22.
"Basically our offence was just not clicking today," said ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 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 ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 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.
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McGILL HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TOURNAMENT:
Dec. 29 (W 3-2 vs Brandon):
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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)
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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)
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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)
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Dec. 31 (L 3-0 vs Dalhousie):
(GOLD MEDAL GAME):
Kaiva Mateus:Ìý 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
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Round-robin standings
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Dalhousie 3-0
Guelph 2-1
±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 2-1
Brandon 0-3
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Dec. 29
Dalhousie 3, Guelph 2 (25-20, 24-26, 21-25, 25-19, 15-9)
±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 3, Brandon 2 (26-28, 25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 15-8)
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Dec. 30
Guelph 3, Brandon 2 (17-25, 20-25, 25-10, 25-22, 15-10)
Dalhousie 3, ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 2 (25-20, 25-18, 16-25, 17-25, 15-11)
±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 3, Guelph 0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-18)
Dalhousie 3, Brandon 1 (28-26, 16-25, 26-24, 25-21)
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Dec. 31
GOLD: Dalhousie 3, ±«ÓãÖ±²¥ 2 (25-20, 25-15,
25-22)
BRONZE: Guelph 3, Brandon 0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-20)
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SOURCE:
Earl Zukerman
±«ÓãÖ±²¥ Athletics & Recreation
514-398-7012