This semi-final was therefore the moment of Roland Gergye

Of our special envoy to Montpellier

He should have been one of the major players in the VB Tours this season. The club had gone to get him for that, but Roland Gergye crossed this exercise without ever being able to express himself, if not for a fortnight in November, when he chained five games as a holder.

The injuries were right for the initial plan, of its ability to do battle, to prove all its value. So, for weeks, we have mainly seen flashes, promises. As in this match in Chaumont, in October, where he had made a remarkable entry, full of power. Or in this high -flying meeting against Tourcoing where he entered the 3^e Set and had flirted with the 80 % attack for a total of 11 points in early February.

Rumped in high -voltage matches

Chaumont, Tourcoing? Perhaps not quite trivial to see, already, the Hungarian weigh on these high-voltage matches, on these face-to-face which count a little more than the three points they offer, even in the middle of the regular phase. At 32, the boy has experience. That of the French championship, for having played in Beauvais and Paris. Those of hot, very hot atmospheres of Türkiye and Greece, for having evolved in Galatasaray and Olympiacos. Those, too, play-offs, finals, from these matches to leave or double, for having won the Bundesliga and twice the German cup, for having been vice-champion of Greece and finished 3^e From the Turkish and France championship with Paris, not to mention an CEV cup final with Galatasaray…

So, it is not the Castelnau room-despite much higher decibels than during the first leg-which was going to frighten Roland Gergye. No more than being launched in the arena to a set everywhere and especially 15-9 for Montpellier in the third round… “I went to try to use my experience”he explained as of course on Monday evening.

It was still necessary to succeed in finding his bearings quickly, quickly the pace, he who had not played, roughly, that ten balloons since the start of the play-offs and whose last match as a holder dates back to a certain … Montpellier-Tours, mid-March. But it was then Gabin, and not Coric, on the pass. “It is true that, in terms of rhythm, it was not necessarily easy but I tried to stay focused and, once again, to rely on my experience. I have already experienced games like these. So, today, I go back to the field with this idea: bring to the team. »»

“Mental, resilience, experience”

And he made it for the least well with 11 points scored but above all a 62 % of positive receptions accompanied by a 69 % of offensive efficiency! Suffice to say that behind these figures there is “The question of decision”who fed the reflection of Marcelo Fronckowiak to launch, or relaunch, gergye in a “Intuition of coach”: “The question of the decision requires assets which, sometimes, are not simply physical, technical but of the order of the mind, resilience and experience. And in this match in Montpellier, Roland showed all of this. »»

Happy with qualification, President Bruneau was also the performance of Gergye. “For the past few months, we have been waiting for this level, this responsibility of Roland, this participation in our campaign. It was his luck and he seized her well. »»

“Poitiers is on fire, we too”

She will be represented, perhaps, during the final. “The coach will decide”he said in peace. A final that he already knows “Difficult, very difficult. Poitiers is on fire, they are playing very well at the moment. But we too are on fire. We just made a very good job, we are ready “.

Ready to fight for this title, ready to win the stars. And in the sky of Roland Gergye, there is that of his father, who died in March, who shines more than all the others.