This past week France played four friendly matches with Croatia in Maribor, Slovenia before returning home to spend the last few days before departing to Zurich in Sélestat.
France claimed their last friendly with Croatia in straight sets and that series of matches was a very good chance to see where the group stands before they take on Belgium, Italy and Switzerland in prelim Pool B. The first out of these four games ended in a 2:2 as it was stopped after four sets before Croatia won the second fixture by 3:1. After losing their third clash 0:4, the “Bleues” cruised to a straight win to round out their camp in Maribor.
“It was a very fruitful week for our group where we could finalize our preparations for the upcoming EuroVolley in the best way. It was a very good experience for my players to play a strong team like Croatia that is about to depart for the European Championship with the ambition to go for a very good result. As we won the last game with Croatia, we definitely got the right confidence for the last stage of our preparations. I have seen that my players performed well individually as well as collectively” head coach Fabrice Vial says. “They have showed that they can cope with difficult situations and this is the best we take from this experience”.
The roster has been reduced to 12 players who are all set to depart to Zurich on Wednesday. The group includes: Christina Bauer (pictured), Myriam Kloster, Maëva Orlé, Anna Rybaczewski, Elisabeth Fedele, Hélène Schleck, Astrid Souply, Déborah Ortschitt, Alexandra Rochelle, Alexandra Jupiter, Mallory Steux, and Leyla Tuifua.
To read more news from this country click on France.