Women's regional match against Sennecey:
Defeat 3-0 (25-8, 25-14, 25-14)
Word from the coach:
A first set where the creusotines miss out against the first of the group. Our game came back well in the 2nd and 3rd sets where we defended and received very well even if we still lacked that finishing attack, but the good mood and the desire to play were there. The team is progressing well, which is encouraging for the next matches. Team defeat.
Creusot 1 men’s regional match against Creusot 2:
Creusot victory 1: 3-0 (25-11, 25-17, 25-15)
Word from coach Creusot 1:
The guys were keen to win after our poor performance against Mâcon. We made a lot of mistakes on serve or attack, but it was a match where we wanted to try things, especially on attack combinations, some times it worked well, other times not. . We are going to need them for the next matches so we had to try to put them in place. We are happy to have taken the 3 points for the ranking, everyone was able to contribute to the victory. We were in a good position on the easy balls that we had to exploit. Next week against Chenove, we will have to be much more rigorous on serve, avoid unforced errors, but otherwise overall the group is doing well.
Word from coach Creusot 2:
Quite a frustrating match for the team because we weren't able to put our game together, whether in reception or attack.
We are still happy to have been able to stick to the score well in the second set even if at the end of this set we completely recovered.
The entire squad that was called up was able to play but the team still makes a lot of collective errors in terms of reception placements or communication. Furthermore, we rarely manage to be decisive in attack or service and I think that in this match it hurt us a lot because the team opposite scored easily on our returns.
However the match was useful because I think we should take inspiration from the teams we played against even if they are stronger. We all still have a lot to learn, the motivation of the team allows us to progress and hang on even if for the moment we have a series of defeats. We hope to be up to the task and quickly win sets and then matches, so we will give everything to achieve this.
As a coach I would like to see the team progress and so I will continue to work on building my training so that it is useful for the guys and that they learn to be present both in defense and in attack.
Word from Captain Creusot 2:
Despite small disagreements and a lot of frustration regarding the lack of construction on our part we all did our best. This match was very interesting and if our team succeeds in recovering from this clash then we will come out even better.
Women's pre-national match against Chenove:
Defeat 3-0 (25-16, 25-14, 25-22)
Word from the coach:
We knew that the opposing team was down from national 3 and that it was going to be tough, we suspected it even more when the opposing girls entered the gymnasium and we saw their size. However, our girls played without any pressure and put in a great performance. We brought up a lot of balls in defense, we adapted well to the attack to avoid the block and score points, we served aggressively. In the end, we even said to ourselves “why not take a set?”, while no other team in the championship has achieved this so far. Unfortunately, we took small sets of service and that's what made the difference. Despite everything, I think everyone had a great time, everyone was able to play too, it was an opportunity to see all our progress and it confirmed to us that the team can take on another dimension, even if There is still work to be done. We are really very satisfied with our match.
U15 boys tournament:
Word from the coach:
Second tournament for the U15 boys. A clear improvement is visible, particularly in terms of service receptions, defense and communication, which allows for a much more fluid game. They won their first match and even managed to win a second, coming close to victory in a third. They finished in 6th place out of 7, just a few points from 5th, facing well-structured teams.
There are still areas to improve, such as ball placement when no attacking opportunity presents itself, as well as working on the block. That will be their next goal, while mine will be to get the team up to speed so that every player can get enough playing time, even in the most intense matches.
French U18 Girls Challenge:
Word from the coach:
We went to Décines with the same group as in October, more or less: girls made up of our 2 senior teams, with one goal, to have fun. It's done since we come back with 2 victories in the tie break from the 2 matches that awaited us. Overall, the girls remained united, despite the close matches. We knew how to manage our highlights at the right time, everyone moved to bring the balls up in defense and we were able to offer good attacking phases, this allowed us to score a lot on our opportunities. The girls did the job and adapted well to the mix of the two teams. We will have to work mentally to avoid getting caught in small series of serves which could have played tricks on us.
