France-Belgium
France defeated Belgium with the score of 3:1 (19-25, 25-19, 25-18, and 25-17) after 106 minutes of play. France stood out with 12 aces and 9 blocks in the game, with four players finishing in double digits – Juliette Fidon (17), Julie Oliveira-Souza (16), team captain Kim Nowak with 15 and Pauline Martin (10).
Belgium had got off to a flying start claiming the opening set with ease (25-19) before France did respond well in the second bringing it home with the same score.
France displayed good actions in attack while Belgium’s defense line started making mistakes. With their opposite Julie Oliveira-Souza on fire, France went up 10:7 in the third set, but Belgium fought their way back and could draw level at 14. It did not last that long as France re-opened the gap (20:16) powered by their solid middle-blockers Pauline Martin and Christine Ngeleka Wa Kundinga, with Martin sealing the final 25-18 and provisional 2:1 with two aces.
France started out strong also in set 4 (6:1, 9:2) well helped also by Belgium’s mistakes. By this moment the youngest members of the team, Juliette Fidon and Nina Stojiljkovic, helped Nowak and Oliveira-Souza set the pace of the game but their opponents could close the gap to only two points (14:12). However, France changed gear once more (18:13, 22:16) and that was the end of the story as Belgium did not have the strength to fight back again and the “Bleus” celebrated a well-deserved 3:1 win (25-19).
“I think that my team finally decided to win and to play a great Volleyball game. They didn’t worry too much and that gave us a good result. I’m very happy with the way the girls played because we showed good fighting spirit when it was necessary. It was a good match for the girls” Gael Le Draoulec, France’s head coach, said after this victory.
Kim Nowak, captain of the French team: “We had a good fight and were on high spirits in this match and when you have all these qualities, you can play against anyone”.
Belgium’s head coach Julien Van de Vyver was disappointed after the match: “In the first set we controlled the French team and after that we chased from behind and also tried to make some things a little better. France was more aggressive in defense, they were better in spiking, serving and receiving so in total they were better in everything. You can see that the team is a little bit older and with good experience because they were quite aggressive in the way they played. For sure they were the better team today and tomorrow will be another day”.
“We were the favorites in this game but they played their best game of this tournament and with good serving, so we couldn’t fight. In some moments if we found the right answers we started making too many mistakes. It’s disappointing. Tomorrow is another game, so we will see what happens” Belgium’s Sarah Coppens concluded.
To read more news from this competition click on 2013 FIVB Volleyball Women’s U20 World Championship – European Qualification.
