Chaumont VB 52 Haute-Marne missed its start in the Champions League by losing to Lüneburg, Wednesday November 13 (3-2), in a match that they nevertheless had in hand. Too easily impressed, Cévebistes must quickly correct this character trait.
What could happen at Chaumont VB 52 Haute-Marne when in less than an hour of play, the Cévebistes obtained five second set balls (24-19), after having easily won the first? Nothing serious, provided he continues to control the opposing game as he had done until then. Except that on the other side of the net, as in the stands of the LKH Arena, it was not yet time to give up.
The Haut-Marnais had a first illustration of this on the services of central Torwie, who forced Silvano Prandi to take a technical timeout, while his team had just wasted four opportunities to conclude the second act. A winning “coaching” which put an end to the success of the Lüneburg player whose last serve went out of bounds (23-25).
An adventure could be expected in the Haut-Marne camp. Except that on the local side, this start sounded like a wake-up call. From then on, the match took a completely different turn. The Germans gained in lucidity in all areas of play, from serving to “blocking/defense”, when the attackers suddenly wanted to be more realistic, like the “sharp” Canadian Xander Ketrzynski, silent throughout the first set , then unstoppable afterwards…
The third round won on the wire by Lüneburg (26-24) was akin to a first alarm signal to the Cévebiste collective. The next one won in great width (25-19) became an urgent alert for the CVB 52, which was not going to recover from these two club blows.
In an extraordinary atmosphere
In the tie-break, the visitors, trailing behind the rotation (8-6), returned to the race (8-9) but were going to miss two essential balls: a counter-attack from Mathis Henno “off line” and a foul from net by Joseph Worsley on a failed Lüneburg offensive. Chaumont's luck had passed and the people of Lüneburg could let their joy burst forth and commune with their formidable audience, they who never stopped believing in it together.
A lesson in self-sacrifice on the pitch and class in the stands where the 3,000 spectators, magnificently led by the club's host, never stopped encouraging their favorites, including during the first part of the match however poorly started. A fervor that is never undermined, without any whistles aimed at the opponent to try to distract them: the simple desire to accompany their team at heart in a good mood that is never denied.
On the cevéb side, the soup of grimaces was current at the final whistle. Aware of having missed out on a great opportunity to start the Champions League with a prestigious success, Silvano Prandi's men sinned through a lack of consistency, an inability to bounce back in difficult times: symbols of a young team and still too easily impressionable.
A parameter that there is still time to correct in the coming weeks, but without delaying too much either…
Laurent Génin
