There was a great atmosphere this Saturday, December 14 in the evening at the Etelin gymnasium in Blois Vienne. AAJ Blois volleyball hosted Châteaudun for the sixth day of men’s pre-nationals. With four defeats against the top four in the championship Blois was seventh (out of eight) but with one game less than their opponents of the day (fifth). A victory would therefore make it possible to take a big step towards maintaining it.
The AAJB struggles to conclude
And it starts rather strong since from the start of the first set, the Blésois Maufras completely destabilizes the Dunois with his service. This thunderous start allows the locals to lead 7-0. A good defense, varied smashes on the lines and on opposing players allowed the AAJB to take off, but Blois struggled to conclude its set. Leading 23-16, they came back 24-23 to finally win 25-23.
The second set is more indecisive with good defensive blocks on both sides, fairly long phases of play (rally) and above all numerous errors on serves which allow the Blésois to take the advantage at the end of the set ( + 5). And, as in the first, the men in red will struggle to finish but will win 26-24.
The third set will be controlled and this will also be felt by the irritation on the part of the CVB who makes a lot of mistakes. Blois won 25-21 among the supporters of the two cities who engaged in a fraternal battle of decibels.
Still progress to be made
Nicolas Fouquet, the AAJB coach, who arrived in September, is happy with the victory but is aware that his team can do better: “We are having trouble finishing sets. When the players are confident, they free themselves but offensively we lack power in front which makes the rallies drag on. There is a lack of automatism and at this level, if we take the time to think we lose the point, we have to be crazy and we have an inability to increase the quality of our game”.
Rudy Mesko, one of the “elders” of the team, is convinced that this victory will be good for morale: “Even if we suffered defeats, our game is better. We have a great dynamic underway and this will have a positive impact for the future of the club. We showed that we had mentality”.
Young people in strength
Beyond the first team, the AAJB is proud of its young teams because the U18 women and U18 men played in a historic third round of the French Cup, which is a first in Loir-et-Cher. And if the boys were eliminated, the girls qualified for the fourth round.
Cédric Thauvin, co-coach of the U18 women’s team and treasurer of the club, highlights the young teams: “Today several U18s are integrated into the senior teams and this shakes up the codes, it is beneficial for everyone. We have also created a beach volleyball niche to modernize our methods”.
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