France claims opening win against Turkey at the 2012 CEV European League – Volleyball news
The ladies around French mentor Fabrice Vial displayed a stellar performance in the opening match of 2012 CEV European League on Friday and bagged opening victory.
Team France claimed 3-1 (16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 25-18) win over Turkey at the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria. French did not have great start in the match but still managed to end up as the better team. Success improved France’s record to
1-0 in Pool B, while Turkey moved to 0-1.
Helene SCHLECK of France emerged as the top-scorer of the match with 15 points. Her teammates, SOULLARD and DASCALU were equally active on the net. They added 14 and 12 points, respective.
Turkish team was supported by Büsra CANSU and KESTIRENGÖZ, who added ten points apiece. Overall, French team dominated the scene and clinched success in the match.
The opening stanza of the match portrayed a complete different picture. Turk ladies came out firing and built an early lead. They hit with power and controlled the action on the net. CANSU made good use of her hands and produced unstoppable cross court shots.
The French side experienced problems and gave out too many points to opponents. Turks rallied from 8-4 to 16-14 and continued at great pace. With the help of better attack and defence, Turks claimed first set (25-16)
The loss of opening set was enough to teach a lesson to the French side. They regrouped in the second set and managed to break the rhythm of opponents. France went up at the FTT, 8-5. Meanwhile, Turks struggled to catch up but all their efforts went futile.
France captured second set (25-22) and levelled the game score 1-1.
Success in the second set restored the confidence of French ladies. They got their full form back in third set and devastated the rival side. Third set ended in France’s favour at 25-21 and Turks could do nothing about it.
France gave the final shot in the fourth set and put an end to the tussle by posting 25-18 on board. France finished the match with a loss of one set and settled for 3-1 victory.
Turkish Head Coach Edman Gökhan shared his thoughts in the following manner. He stated, “We had many ups and downs, but in some phases we played really bad. It’s more a psychological than a technical problem. France played well with a good team work.”
The winning coach Fabrice Vial revealed, “We caught a bad start and made many errors in the first set but afterwards it went much better. We stabilized our defence line and since Turkey’s team was so young, it was relatively easy for us to win this match.
I am very proud of my players because they scored a good win and this is a good boost of confidence for the next stages of the competition.”
Next up, France is scheduled to take on hosts Bulgaria in the next match on Saturday. Turks, on the other hand, will go against Swiss ladies.
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