Tours leads the way against Saint-Nazaire

Tours Volley-Ball : 2
Saint-Nazaire Volleyball Atlantic: 1

The sets: 22-25, 25-18, 25-17.

This live broadcast is hosted by journalists from the La Nouvelle République sports department.

Fourth set

21-16. Canham, who entered in place of Léon (hit in the foot), slowed down the Touraine advance but the Tourangeaux seemed well on their way to victory.

18-14. Egleskalns’ powerful strike was deflected into the stands by the visitors and Tours continued its march forward.

15-12. Carried by Léon, the visitors had come back to two lengths but the Tourangeaux regained some air after a devastating block on Ewert.

12-9. Time out for the SNVBA while the TVB widens a first gap.

7-7. Léon caught fire but Marshman put out the fire with a sharp attack.

3-3. Léon and Ewert allow Saint-Nazaire to stay in touch.

Third set

25-17. Quiroga makes one last attack and Tours now leads 2-1! Note that Marshman scored 7 points in this round.

23-16. AND THREE! He is phenomenal!

22-16. AND TWO!!!! Marshman hits a second ace! Masterful!

21-16. ACCCCCEEEEE from Marshman, the man at the end of the set!

20-16. Tours continues to lead the race, carried in particular by Marshman, but the visitors remain in contact.

15-12. Ace of Leon! Saint-Nazaire returns dangerously close to the TVB and Fronckowiak takes a timeout to break the visiting dynamic.

15-10. The Tourangeaux upset Ewert, who scored two points and reduced the gap.

12-7. Egleskalns is on fire! The sharp Touraine knocks out Saint-Nazaire with his ace! Time out for the SNVBA.

10-6. Egleskalns has fun in this set, boosting his teammates. Marshman thus gets into tune with a smashing ace!

7-4. Coric’s aceeeee! The Touraine captain gave his team three steps ahead and Saint-Nazaire immediately took a timeout to try to stop the bleeding.

Second set

25-18. Saint-Nazaire defended its skin dearly, even erasing a set point, but it could not escape Tours, who won with a good strike from Quiroga.

22-14. Hallé’s service is too long, Coric’s serves surprise the visitors and Tours flies away.

17-12. “He’s really, he’s really phenomenal.”sing the Touraine supporters after Quiroga’s ace.

14-9. What a rally! The TVB has clearly gained momentum and Saint-Nazaire falters under the pressure, like this out-of-bounds attack from Van der Ent. Bertini poses a second time in this set.

11-8. A missile from Pothron, a rocket from Egleskalns (which the visiting defense sends into the stands), a more subtle attack from Quiroga and a sumptuous ace (flashed at 116 km/h!) from Pothron and Tours makes a first break!

7-7. While Quiroga replaced Gergye on the Touraine side, the two teams remain neck and neck, even if Saint-Nazaire was in the lead for a few points.

2-1. The Nazaire side defends very, very strongly, but Gergye (author of five points in the first set and the first two in this one) does not let himself be impressed.

Premier set

22-25. The second is the right one! Hallé offers the victory of the round to Saint-Nazaire, who made the difference by being sharper in the money-time.

21-24. Set point for Saint-Nazaire… erased by Egleskalns! (22-24)

20-22. Time out for Tours, while the visitors took a slight advantage… Which Egleskalns reduced with an angry and precise strike (21-22).

20-20. No team manages to widen the gap significantly. While Saint-Nazaire had taken the advantage (19-20), Marshman’s perfect reading of the game allowed Tours to equalize.

18-17. New timeout, this time for the SNVBA. Tours reversed the trend in just a few moments and regained the advantage thanks to Pothron.

15-17. Despite an initial timeout from Fronckowiak, Saint-Nazaire took a first small advantage… immediately reduced by Gergye (16-17).

11-12. Léon allows Saint-Nazaire to get back in front but Tours equalizes when Van der Ent sends his serve into the net (12-12).

7-6. Two points from the sharp Egleskalns and Tours are back in front!

4-4. Ewert, well into his match, brings Saint-Nazaire back to level terms after being led 4-2.

Pre-match

19 h 59. On the pitch for Saint-Nazaire: Ivanov, Léon, Hallé, Van der Ent, Ewert and Burel.

19 h 58. On the field for Tours: Coric, Gergye, Pothron, Marshman, Egleskalns and Aracaju.

19 h 55. It’s time for the team presentations. Kick-off is approaching!

19 h 50. As the two teams begin the final moments of the warm-up (a moment so dreaded by us journalists, who must remain on the lookout so as not to accidentally receive a ball), we note the absence of the Saint-Nazaire libero , Romain Devèze, already unavailable the previous week in Tourcoing. It is the Portuguese Lourenço Martins, usually playing as a receiver-attacker, who wears the yellow libero tunic.

19 h 45. If everything is better from a sporting point of view, the TVB has however experienced some turmoil this week, with the ouster of its general manager, Frantz Granvorka, who arrived this summer in Touraine. “Frantz had difficulty understanding his role as manager”explained François Bruneau, the president of the TVB, yesterday.

19 h 40. With ten points also in their pocket, the Tourangeaux are just behind their evening opponent in the standings, with a 10^e not really a satisfactory place for such an ambitious club. But, after a difficult start to the season (five defeats for one victory during the first six days of MSL), the TVB has recovered, since it has just won four victories in five matches, in all competitions.

“We started the season in a difficult way, traced Marcelo Fronckowiak, last week after the victory in Nice. We first want to hang on to the teams close to us, always with the desire to seek the play-offs, then the best possible place. If the team continues what it has shown recently, we can have hope. But knowing that we are behind schedule, there is nothing certain. »

Tonight’s match is in any case a great opportunity to get closer to the 8^e place, qualifier for the play-offs. “Yes, this match is very important for the top 8”confirms the Touraine coach.

19 h 35. Honor to the visitors! Saint-Nazaire is not really celebrating at the start of the season. The reigning French champion is in 9th^e place in the standings, with a record of four victories for five defeats (including three in the last four meetings).

Compared to last year’s team, five players left (including libero Ludovic Duée, who retired to devote himself to… religion) and five others arrived.

But Fulvio Bertini, the new coach, relies on a backbone which was already partly present last year, with the receivers-attackers Ewert and Hallé, the central Burel and Spencer and the sharp Léon. However, he was No. 2 in his position last season and has taken on a new dimension in recent weeks. “Henri Léon is revealing himself this season, his performances illustrate the fact that we must not neglect the potential of this team”judge Marcelo Fronckowiak, the Touraine coach.

19 h 30. Good evening and welcome to this live! On this beautiful evening at the end of November, Tours Volley-Ball welcomes Saint-Nazaire for a repeat of last season’s final, won by the Nazairiens in the golden set (to relive this crazy final, click here). Kick-off of the meeting at 8 p.m.!