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CIS bronze: No. 1 Carabins edge rival Laval for bronze
Courtesy of UNB Sports Information
FREDERICTON - Two-time CIS player of the year Laetitia Tchoualack
had 28 kills and 17 digs to lead the No. 1-seeded Montreal Carabins
to a five-set bronze-medal win over the No. 6 Laval Rouge et Or
(22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 21-25, 15-10) Saturday afternoon at the 2009
CIS women's volleyball championship.
Championship website:
www.cisport.ca/e/championships/w_volleyball/2009
The top-ranked Carabins, coming off of a heartbreaking five-set
semi-final loss to No. 4 Calgary on Friday night, claimed a CIS
medal for the second straight season after a silver-medal finish,
the best result in program history, a year ago, also in
Fredericton.
Saturday's duel was a rematch of the Quebec conference final swept
in two matches by Montreal two weeks ago. It also marked the first
time the QSSF rivals met at the CIS tournament since the Rouge et
Or beat the Carabins 3-0 in the semi-final round in 2006 en route
to claiming the only national title in tem history.
Laval, the only team to defeat Montreal in the regular season, was
trying to reach the CIS podium for the third time in four years
following their banner win in 2006 and a silver medal in 2007.
Despite the chance to avenge the conference loss to Laval, CIS
coach of the year Olivier Trudel didn't think that factored into
the Carabins' play on Saturday.
"No, I think today was all about today. We had to battle two great
forces today, Laval and ourselves, because it was so hard yesterday
losing, our dreams were shattered. We tried to do our best today
and execute as well as we could and I'm really, really proud of the
girls."
The first set started out even with Laval taking a one-point lead.
Eventually Laval capitalized on some Montreal errors to take a
four-point lead into the second technical time out. Continuing the
even play of the set both teams were tied at 20 late, before Laval
pulled away and won the set 25-22.
The Rouge et Or looked to continue their momentum into the second
half getting out to a 4-1 lead, but Montreal, using the hitting
skills of two-time Tchoualack (9 kills in the set), were able to
even up the set in short order and took the lead midway through the
frame. It was a lead the Carabins never relinquished, taking the
game 25-19.
After splitting the first two sets both teams came out for the
third with something to prove. Early on Montreal took the lead with
two straight aces from Tchoualack before Laval was able to regain
control midway through and take a two-point lead into the second
timeout. The Carabins combined strong hitting and defence to come
back and take the set 25-21.
The even play from the third continued into the fourth with both
teams trading points and neither side holding a significant
advantage. Laval began to pull away midway through the set earning
16-14 lead. Down the stretch strong serving from the Rouge et Or
combined with a number of Montreal errors lead to Laval winning the
set 25-21.
In a scene reminiscent of last years bronze medal contest between
Calgary and Alberta the match came down to a deciding fifth set.
The Carabins proved once again why they're one of the top teams in
the nation getting out to a quick 6-2 lead. Laval refused to give
up, coming back to nearly tie the match, but Montreal proved to be
too much winning the set and the match 15-10, fittingly enough on a
kill by Tchoualack.
Befitting a two-time CIS Player of the Year the key to the match
for the Carabins was the play of Tchoualack and Coach Trudel
couldn't be happier with the performance of his star player.
"We depend on her so much because she erases so many problems.
She's done great, with not only her volleyball skills but her
leadership skills and the fact that she just gathers the girls
around together and she played a heck of a game today."
STAT LEADERS
Montreal
Kills: Laetitia Tchoualack (28), Nadine Alphonse (8), Gabrielle
Vandal (8)
Blocks: Eva Greneir (7), Nadine Alphonse (5)
Digs: Laetitia Tchoualack (17), Audrey Lavallée (15)
Assists: Alexandra Lojen (50)
Player of the match: Eva Grenier-Lespérance
Laval
Kills: Marie-Christine Mondor (26), Mélanie Savoie (14),
Julie Rodrique (9)
Blocks: Julie Rodrique (4), Sarah
Létourneau-Lévesque (2)
Digs: Christine Marois-Julien (15), Mélanie Savoie (14)
Assists: Sarah Létourneau-Lévesque (50)
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL: Atlantic Time)
Video webcast of all 11 games available through:
www.cisport.ca/e/championships/w_volleyball/2009
Thursday, February 26
Quarter-final #1: UBC 3, Moncton 1 (16-25, 25-16, 25-21,
25-13)
Quarter-final #2: Laval, 3, Trinity Western 1 (25-14, 19-25,
25-17, 25-22)
Quarter-final #3: Calgary 3, York 0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-21)
Quarter-final #4: Montreal 3, UNB 0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-16)
Friday, February 27
Consolation #1: Trinity Western 3, Moncton 0 (25-22, 25-17,
25-17)
Consolation #2: York 3, UNB 1 (28-26, 12-25, 25-21, 25-20)
Semi-final #1: UBC 3, Laval 0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-22)
Semi-final #2: Calgary 3, Montreal 2 (19-25, 25-13, 20-25, 27-25,
15-12)
Saturday, February 28
5th place: Trinity Western 3, York 2 (18-25, 20-25, 25-17, 26-24,
15-4)
Bronze medal: Montreal 3, Laval 2 (22-25, 25-19, 25-21, 21-25,
15-10)
19:00 Championship final: No. 2 UBC vs. No. 4 Calgary (Rogers TV
local)
-CI
