The Ergué-Armel Sports Hall is calm. A contrast with the excitement of match nights. On the floor, the players launch a final rallying cry. The training is coming to an end. A few snippets of conversation then follow. Most of them in English, because this season the Quimper Volley collective is mainly made up of foreign players.
Among them, Mariia and Dariia Kaplanska. At the age of 20, the two sisters left Odessa, in the south of Ukraine, to join the banks of the Odet and try their luck abroad. They play the same position: receiver-attacker. And with their slender silhouette, their long light brown hair, gathered in a ponytail for Dariia, in a bun for Mariia, the two young women look exactly the same. In the adjoining weight room, the duo retraces their history. When one starts a sentence, the other finishes it. Sometimes looking at each other to find their words in their mother tongue.
Professionals for five years
A mimicry that they maintain in life as on the field even if one, Dariia, is more reserved when her sister is more explosive. Professionals for five years, nothing predestined Mariia and Dariia Kaplanska to embrace this career. There are no great athletes in their family. They started practicing in primary school. At 8 years old, Mariia and Dariia already stood out from the crowd and were spotted by their sports teacher. They have never stopped playing since. This was followed by the discovery of the Ukrainian second division, at the Kyivska Oblast-Sportlitsey club, then the elite at VK Bukovynka (D1) with, along the way, a handful of selections for the youth national team.
From club to club, the two sisters have never left each other’s side. A “coincidence” which the duo is delighted about. “This allows us to support each other, to help each other. We know what words the other needs to hear to re-mobilize,” explains Dariia. It was also together that they had the opportunity to move to France. “The championship is tough here, it’s a good first step to progress abroad,” they say. All without making plans on the comet. “We just want to enjoy and play. It’s our life and we want to do with it what we want. »
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