The Martlets entered Love Competition Hall on Friday evening in support of Shoot for the Cure— a fundraiser for breast cancer research— in the annual “Pack the House” game. McGill was looking to extend their seven game winning streak into February against the Concordia Stingers. However, despite a strong showing by point guard Diana Ros and forward Mariam Sylla, the Martlets fell to the Stingers 71-66 for the first time since November.

The first quarter was quite competitive, as both teams appeared evenly matched. Concordia had made tremendous adjustments since the last time the two rivals met, when the Stingers were blown out 75-44. On the other side of the court, McGill played with tenacity on offence, crashing the offensive boards, and running the floor every chance they had. The quarter finished an even 16-16.

While the Martlets focused on pushing the tempo in transition and pounding the ball down low to star rookie Sylla, the Stingers sniped from beyond the arc. Concordia’s shooters recorded an outstanding 61.5 per cent field goal efficiency from three-point range in the first half.

The second frame, however, was all about Ros, as the secondyear point guard put on a clinic. She scored the first five points for the Martlets and scored he remaining 10 points in the second quarter, including an ankle-breaking crossover on a Stinger defender. She teamed up with Sylla to put the team up by seven at the 7:09 mark.

Unfortunately, Ros was the lone bright spot for McGill in the second. The team proceeded to collapse, allowing Concordia to come roaring back with a barrage of threes. The Stingers entered halftime with a 42-34 lead.

“[In the second quarter], we slowed the pace down [and] started walking,” Martlets Head Coach Ryan Thorne said. “And then, [Concordia] was able to do different things; they ran a good ball screen action, got some open shots. We didn’t play it properly, so they got good looks out of it, and that was it.”

McGill unravelled further in the final half, as Concordia came out of the locker room on fire. The Martlets continued to struggle to defend the three-point shot, and could not convert on offence. McGill’s turnovers added to their troubles, and they trailed 61-45 by the end of the third quarter.

The Martlets huddled up before the start of the fourth, when Coach Thorne helped his team regroup.

“Coach just [told] us that we had to communicate; that we have to play with more character, and that we are better than what we are doing. Everyone got pumped up and we started to do what we do best,” Sylla said.

This motivation appeared to work its magic, as McGill played with incredible energy in the final quarter and got back to what gives them offensive success—namely, their inside-out passing, transition baskets, and offensive rebounds.

The hard work paid off, as the Martlets made a comeback behind Sylla and veteran forward Helene Bibeau. Following an 18-2 run, Sylla put McGill up by one with three minutes remaining in the game. Ultimately, Tamara Pinard-Devos and Kaylah Barrett kept composure down the stretch for Concordia, and helped the Stingers seal the 71-66 victory.

Despite Friday’s loss, the Martlets remain in first place in the RSEQ, with a conference record of 8-3. However, Coach Thorne does not want McGill’s position atop the standings to affect his team’s approach.

“We won the conference last year, so we’ve had a target [on our backs] since the season started,” he said. “We have to take the approach, which is to go out there and play everyone as tough as we can. … We’re going after another championship.” Ros added that the team will continue to work hard before the playoffs.

“We’ve been working since the beginning of the season [to stay] first,” she said. “We’ve been here before so we just want to stay here and work as hard as we can [to] have home court advantage [in the playoffs].”

The Martlets battle Laval on Feb. 7 in Quebec City, before returning home to play UQAM on Feb. 9. The RSEQ playoffs begin at the end of February.

Tears flooded the court at the conclusion of the McGill Martlets’ last volleyball match of the season on Saturday evening. Although the Martlets fell in straight sets, the loss was not the main source of this outpouring of emotion. As with the end of any season, the Martlets had to say goodbye to their graduating seniors—and this year’s crop was a particularly talented and motivated group.

Setter and perennial All-Star Marcela Mansure will certainly be moving on next season, as she has used all of her five years of CIS eligibility. Joining her is Rebecca Canam, and potentially, captain and star power hitter, Geneviève Plante. Plante is graduating this year from a three-year program, but hopes to continue with the team in upcoming years, during a graduate degree.

Already eliminated from the playoffs, the Martlets still sought to finish the season on a positive note. First up were the Montreal Carabins on Thursday night, who rode the explosive talent of Sophie Bergeron- Leblanc and Marie-Sophie Nadeau, en route to a 26-24, 25-19, 25-15 victory. The Carabins closed out the last half of the season on fire, winning nine of their last 11 games to climb to seventh in the national CIS rankings.

To finish off the season on Saturday, the Laval Rouge-et-Or visited McGill. However, the result was much of the same for the Martlets. McGill looked a little taken aback by the power and ferocity of their opponent—as they have for much of the season—and had to play catchup from the beginning.

The first two sets finished an uninspired 25-21, 25-20. The lone bright spot arose in the third, when McGill took it to Laval on the backs of Plante and rookies Catherine Amyot, and Ashley Norfleet. It was the first time in the match that the Martlets did not seem intimidated by the size of their opponents. The Martlets built a lead, but a few unforced hitting errors gave the Rougeet- Or enough momentum to tie the game at 24 and ultimately come out victorious 27-25.

With no chance to replicate last year’s stunning bronze medal at Nationals last year, this season was undoubtedly a rebuilding year for the Martlets. Several starters from last year’s squad were lost to graduation, while 2012 Libero-of-the-Year, and Team Canada member, Daphnée André-Morin was absent the whole season with a knee injury. Morin’s absence left a gaping hole in the Martlet defence—one they failed to fill all year.

To add to this, while McGill was battered and inexperienced, the three other members of the league were really hitting their strides, each ranking in the CIS top 10, and making the RSEQ arguably the most competitive league in the country.

The Martlets battled with the weapons they had, and Head Coach Rachèle Béliveau did well in fostering the development of the freshmen, who were adjusting from the slower CEGEP—or high school— game to the more physical and powerful CIS volleyball level.

Development will be crucial next year as André-Morin returns, and the team looks to be competitive once again. The one question mark looming on the horizon is the loss of Mansure, who has been the lone setter for the last four years of Martlet volleyball. Converted right-side hitter Marie-Christine Lapointe has played setter in the past, but never consistently at the CIS level, and listed sophomore setter Yasmeen Dawoodjee has failed to make her mark in the CIS game. This void will need to be addressed as the team moves forward to next season.

Although the CIS sanctioned competition is over for the year, Mc- Gill still has a series of upcoming exhibition tournaments, giving them an even greater opportunity to gel. Those tournaments compose the illustrious “Coupe du Québec,” which starts in March and runs through April.

After a difficult loss to Bishop’s on Wednesday, the McGill Redmen were hungry to bounce back. The team battled the No. 10 Concordia Stingers on Friday night at Love Competition Hall. McGill Athletics chose the right contest for its annual “Pack the House” game, and the capacity crowd experienced a thriller.

McGill edged out their opponents 63-61 after Concordia guard Kyle Desmarais missed a last second shot that would have pushed the contest into overtime.

The matchup got off to a fastpaced start, with both teams’ raw athleticism on display. McGill dictated the flow of play early on, clearly inspired—while the Stingers appeared sluggish. The Redmen really took off after McGill third-year guard Simon Bibeau launched the offence with a three pointer. They continued to make most of their shots, while Concordia’s typically dynamic offence struggled to penetrate McGill’s defensive interior.

The crowd propelled the Redmen in the second quarter, as the team built a 13-point lead by the midway point. Concordia picked up their play by the end, but the Redmen held a 34-25 lead heading into the half. Bibeau, Vincent Dufort, and Aleks Mitrovic were all key to McGill’s dominant start.

The final half, however, played out very differently for the Redmen, as the Stingers slowly clawed their way back into the game. Despite McGill’s consistent defensive stands for McGill, the Stingers shots started to fall, and the crowd was taken out of the game for a stretch. Concordia second-year point guard Jerome Blake and fifth-year forward Evens Laroche led the Stingers comeback, which seemed to light a fire under the rest of the team.

The game’s turning point was in part, thanks to Concordia coach John Dore, who implemented a full-court press. As the game grew closer, the animosity between the two sides became apparent, and the contest grew more physical.

Redmen shooting guard Te’Jour Riley—by far the most effective player on the court in the second half—took his game to another level when the Stingers started their run. He was everywhere—diving on loose balls, stymieing Concordia’s offence in the paint, and contributing to the Redmen offence. Without his effort, the Stingers would have sealed the victory. Riley spoke after the game about what inspired his performance.

“It was all the crowd. It really lights a fire under the whole team when the fans get into the game like they did,” Riley said. “Especially because I am an emotional player, I really feed off of that energy.”

As the game went down to the wire, there was frantic play at both ends of the court, with McGill attempting to hold onto their twopoint lead. On the last possession, Riley got just enough of his hand in Desmarais’ face as he put up the game-tying shot, which clanked off the rim, ensuring a Redmen victory.

Other than a Concordia blowout in January, just five total points in their other three meetings this season have separated the two teams. Second-year guard Ave Bross, who has been increasingly reliable this year, commented on the great rivalry between the two up-and-coming programs.

“The dynamic of McGill [versus] Concordia games has changed this year. We used to feel like we needed to play above ourselves to win. We still respect them, but now we go in knowing we can, and should, win these games,” Bross said. “I think our team has really grown this year and our play on the court, especially against Concordia, shows it.”

The win puts the Redmen back into uncontested first place in the RSEQ, but they have a lot of work ahead of them, with a busy second half of the season looming. The Redmen will need to put together some similar performances if they hope to win the RSEQ, and make an underdog push at the CIS Championship in March.