Thomson and Irwin pace volleyball Martlets to silver at Carabins Classic

MONTREAL - Power hitter Jennifer Thomson of Rosemere, Que., and middle blocker Kelsey Irwin of Vancouver, B.C., were both named to the all-tournament team as the McGill women's volleyball team opened their preseason with a 4-1 record and a silver medal finish at the Carabins Invitational, hosted by Université de Montreal over the weekend.

Thomson, a physical education senior who measures 5-foot-7, racked up a combined total of 65 digs, 56 kills, six aces, one stuff block and a 2.32 passing ratio (out of 3).

Irwin, 6-foot political science and sociology senior, registered 57 kills, 18 digs, 12 blocks and three aces.

On Friday, the Martlets whipped Waterloo by set scores of 25-17, 27-25 and 25-23. The next day, McGill quelled Queen's (28-26, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20) and swept College Bois-de-Boulogne (25-15, 25-21, 25-14) to advance to Sunday's playoff round.

In the semifinal, they met Queen's again and swept the Gaels (25-14, 25-20 and 25-10) to qualify for the gold medal match against the host UdeM Carabins.

In the final, McGill looked like they would finally knock the Carabins monkey off their backs, winning the first two sets 25-23 and 25-22. But UdeM pulled out the rally caps and roared back to win the final three sets 25-20, 25-19 and 15-8. The match lasted two hours and six minutes.

The Martlets will get a two-week break before resuming play at the Ottawa's Quality hotel Preseason Classic tourney, Oct. 2-4. McGill is scheduled to take on Windsor and Ottawa in the first round, then Moncton and Ryerson the next day.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

Sept. 18

Sherbrooke vs Queen's : 3-0 (25-16, 25-18, 25-19)

McGill vs Waterloo : 3-0 (25-17, 27-25, 25-23)

Montréal vs Bois de Boulogne : 3-1 (22-25, 25-12, 25-18, 25-17)

Sept. 19

Sherbrooke vs Bois de Boulogne: 3-1 (23-25, 25-16, 25-21, 25-11)

Montréal vs Waterloo : 3-0 (28-26, 25-22, 25-21)

McGill vs Queen's : 3-1 (28-26, 25-21, 19-25, 25-20)

Sherbrooke vs Waterloo : 3-1 (25-18, 25-18, 24-26, 25-17)

McGill vs Bois de Boulogne: 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-14)

Montréal vs Queen's : 3-2 (26-24, 27-29, 22-25, 28-26, 15-13)

Sept. 20

Semifinal: McGill vs Queen : 3-0 (25-14, 25-20, 25-10)

Semifinal: Montréal vs Sherbrooke : 3-1 (25-22, 9-25, 25-19, 25-21)

Fifth place game : Waterloo vs BdeB : 3-0 (25-10, 25-15, 25-15)

Bronze Sherbrooke vs Queen : 3-0 (25-13, 25-22, 25-20)

GOLD: Montréal vs McGill : 3-2 (23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-14, 15-8)

FINAL STANDINGS

1. Montréal
2. McGill
3. Sherbrooke
4. Queen
5. Waterloo
6. College Bois-de-Boulogne

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

Marie-Pier Murray-Méthot (Montréal)

Jennifer Thompson (McGill)

Allison Grand (Queen)

Renée-Claude Chevarie (Sherbrooke)

Kelsey Irwin (McGill)

Mélanie Roy (Montréal)

Tourney MVP : Alexandra Lojen (Montréal)

SOURCE:

Earl Zukerman

Communications Officer

Athletics & Recreation

McGill University

514-398-7012 (Tel.)