France defeats Turkey by 3-1 in 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship playoffs
In a playoff match of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship that took place in Vienna, Austria, France and Turkey battled for a spot int he quarter finals. The four sets match saw the Turkish side losing as the French were celebrating their progress
into the next round of the tournament after a 3-1 win.
The French stayed dominant in the first and the second sets of the game but the Turkish side swung the momentum of the match by bagging the third set by avoiding a clean sweep. Turkey battled on valiantly in the fourth set as well but the French prevailed
in sealing the deal on the match at the following final set scores: 25-19, 25-23, 19-25 and 25-21.
The coach of the French team, Philippe Blain, shared his feelings in the following words at the press conference that was conducted after the match had reached it close: “Winning this game was the most important thing for us. Another big thing is that our
substitutes really helped the team today and proved their skills.”
The Turkish head coach Veljko Basic was not disappointed in his team and expressed himself in the following manner: “All in all, we have to admit that France played with higher quality than us. We finished this tournament with a good game and this makes
me confident for the future.”
The initial stage of the first set was level with both the teams playing equally well but as the frame progressed, the French were seen to slacken a bit as the Turkish went ahead. The French took the lead later on at 19-18, an advantage that they did not
let go of until the French had the set at 25-19.
The loss of the first set triggered the Turkish into a more forceful response in the second set that got them to challenge the French side significantly. The second technical time out came with a Turkish lead at 16-14. However, the French increased their
pace and managed to get the advantage at 20-16. The frame remained tough but it ended in favour of the French at 25-23.
The third set saw the Turkish side start off as a rejuvenated team as they put on an impressive display of skill that gave them dominance all through the set and ended in a win at 25-19. The Turkish kept things close all through in the fourth set as well
but they were not able to stop the French from making winning the set at 25-21.
The player that was able to tally the most score in the match was from the French side, Earvin Ngapeth, with 21 points while the top scorer on the Turkish side was Serhat Coskun who registered 22 points.
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