Thanks to the three points scored against Sète, Saturday November 30, Chaumont VB 52 Haute-Marne becomes Tourcoing's runner-up in the Marmara Spikeligue standings: a sign of an already successful first part of the season for the Cévebistes.
Everything was not like clockwork on the Béziers side, where Sète, orphaned this season by its Barrou venue under reconstruction, hosted Chaumont VB 52 Haute-Marne, Saturday November 30. The Cévebistes could have even fared worse, if the Héraultais had not shown even more inconsistency in the game than their opponents in the evening.
In a first set whose outcome will undoubtedly remain one of the keys to this duel, the Haut-Marnais could have already fallen by the wayside in this first round. The 400 to 500 spectators who came to encourage the Sétois still do not understand how their favorites could have missed out on winning this initial round. Leading by seven points (23-16), the Occitans finally gave up (24-26), after conceding a “1-10” as unexpected as it was improbable. The kind of disappointment from which one does not recover so easily, except that a few minutes later, Arago took its revenge by winning (25-20) in the next round. The symbol of a meeting whose stability and efficiency were frankly not the primary values of the two teams.
The CVB 52 was ultimately going to make the difference thanks to its bench length. Where the Sétois coach, Luc Marquet, alternated his two “pointers” and an “attacker-receiver” over the duration of the match, his counterpart, Silvano Prandi, multiplied the changes, often happily, if only to a short period, and never presenting the same starting “seven” during the first three sets.
Welcome revelations
Without Shane Holdaway (back pain), the Haut-Marnais would therefore rely on a “Maase/Polak” duo in the center: the first, returning from injury, showed off his blocking height; the second, not having yet really found his place in the team, was finally getting his first good sensations in serving and countering. As for Nathan Lietzke, little used until then in passing, he was at the helm of his team's miraculous comeback in the first set.
The fact remains that in terms of pure efficiency, the CVB 52 still lacks consistency. “We weren't realistic enough when our reception was good: we absolutely have to improve that,” regretted the Italian coach at the final whistle. He who, however, was able to count on much better managed counter-attacks at their conclusion. A match which never reached an exceptional level of play, but which, four days before the return of the Champions League for the Cévebistes, was nevertheless able to comfort them in their current progress. On Wednesday, in Bulgaria, against Levski Sofia, the stakes will be higher, and victory imperative.
Laurent Génin
Josef Polak: “a level I have never experienced before! »
jhmquotidien: How do you explain this finale of the first set which, ultimately, mattered a lot for the rest of the match?
Josef Polak (central du CVB 52): “It’s very difficult to understand what really happened. One thing is certain, our comeback proves that we never gave up, regardless of the size of the score. We hung on, with a team composition that changed, also proving the quality of our squad. It's also truly the symbol of this championship, where everything remains possible until it's over. Sète suddenly lost control of the game, while our opponent had just proven that he had the means to shake us up. There are no “small” teams in this championship, which is why you must never give up and always fight. »
jhmquotidien: From a personal point of view, does this service allow you to regain a little more confidence?
J. P. : “It’s true that these last two months, I have experienced difficulties, particularly in terms of my performance which inevitably has repercussions on the mind. But I continue to work every day in training. I arrive in a French championship which is at a level that I have never experienced before. You also have to adapt to this difficult competition. Against Sète, I am happy to have been able to offer help to my team to achieve this victory, even if I know that I must and can still do better. »
jhmquotidien: Does your new life in Chaumont suit you?
J. P. : “I feel really good in this group. I really like my teammates and this collective, where human values are as important as sporting values. And I thank them for helping me every day to feel good in my new life. It was also together that we all learned to adapt to our new environment. »
jhmquotidien: Today, it is important to quickly think about the next match…
J. P. : “We will move on quickly with our next objectives and this Champions League which is coming back again. It's very exciting to compete in this competition, which is still at a higher level than the French championship, against the best players and the strongest teams in the world. We go to Sofia on Wednesday with the obligation to bring back a good result if we want to maintain our chances of qualifying for the rest of the adventure. But also to ensure at least third place, and a return to the CEV Cup if we were to finish third in our group. »
Collected by LG
The opponent
Tibo Rippert (Sète receiver/attacker): “Obviously, there is frustration, especially at the end of this first set which we are leading by a wide margin and which we are not able to conclude. It's difficult, straight away, to say what exactly happened. We lost track of this round. This is our main concern: these strong times and weak times which follow one another in the same set. But I nevertheless prefer to keep the positive from this meeting. We also showed some good things against this Chaumont team. We also proved that we had the assets to produce an interesting game. We must continue to work to gain regularity, in order to offer the right interview sequences at greater length. It is certain that changing rooms every weekend is not an ideal context for working: we are ultimately always on the move. But once again, we have a quality team who must do even better to obtain positive results. »
Niko Suihkonen takes the helm of the ship
Joseph Worsley (0 att., 1 cont., 0 ser., 0 foul dir.) : In difficulty in the first set, the American passer was unable to find the solutions to get his team back in the saddle before his replacement.
He, on the other hand, made a much more encouraging comeback during the last two rounds.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Niko Suihkonen (21 attacks out of 43, 0 cont., 0 ser., 4 dir. fouls): The usual priority attackers were ineffective for a good part of the match, but CVB 52 was able to trust their Finn. Truly behaving like a leader, he led his team behind him, thanks to his offensive realism, but also a lot of work on his back line. He was undeniably the driving force behind his training.
Pierre Toledo (6 attacks out of 15, 1 con., 1 set, 6 dir. fouls): In difficulty in the first set, the “sharp” cevébist came back with a little more realism in the last two sets: important for variety
net solutions.
Josef Polak (1 attack out of 9, 3 con., 3 ser., 3 dir. fouls): The Czech, mentally affected by his last mediocre performances, has finally found a smile again. Even if he has not resolved his problems with attacking efficiency, he has, to a large extent, compensated for this lack with very interesting counterattacks and an essential quality of service. An important point of support to find the player seen
in pre-season.
Lukas Maase (8 attacks out of 16, 4 con., 0 sets, 5 dir. fouls): His return to the field is a good thing for his team. He quickly demonstrated that his qualities as a “blocker” remained intact. On the other hand, on the attack, he also sometimes lacked realism: a rhythm to quickly find.
Jacob Pasteur (4 attacks out of 9, 2 cont., 0 sets, 2 dir. fouls): Really interesting at the end of the first set, where he greatly participated in Chaumont's fabulous comeback, the American then struggled to confirm in the following round, still demonstrating problematic inconsistency.
Sebastian Closter (libero): The Argentinian put in a rather solid performance, despite greater demands than usual on reception. A situation that didn't really bother him, confronting him fairly.
Nathan Lietzke (1 att. sur 1, 1 ser., 1 foul dir.) : This is the kind of performance that should make the young American smuggler grow! Often entering into somewhat desperate moments, this time he contributed greatly to bringing his team back to victory in the first round: thanks to his first very fair and lucid distribution, then by his quality of service which completely returned the opposing reception.
Cheikh Diop (4 attacks out of 11, 4 direct fouls): The entry into play of the “country child” was somewhat effective. At first rather on the legs, he was then often muzzled by his former teammates.
Mathis Henno (7 att. sur 15, 2 fautes dir.) : His association with Niko Suihkonen upon his entry into play quickly proved to be the best option for his formation. His offensive qualities and reception
solid allowed CVB 52 to regain height in this match.
A miraculous “comeback”
It is still difficult to explain how Arago de Sète was able to let the victory of the first set slip away. Leading by seven points (23-16) two lengths from the finish line of this first stage of the match, the Héraultais suddenly stalled, conceding a “1-10” in a few minutes to lose (24-26) . All while missing three opportunities to end the round, including two on reception: a huge net error from central Daenan Gyimah who had nevertheless concluded the exchange, then an “ace” from Nathan Lietzke. The rout was ultimately complete, with an “off-line” offensive from Tristan Schlienger, followed by a counter-attack concluded by Lukas Maase: hard to believe!
