A boiling crowd, constant chanting and a party atmosphere… Contrary to appearances, and despite the incessant encouragement of the supporters, the Bleues du volleyball team did not succeed in the feat of overthrowing the great Chinese team this Thursday evening in the immense hall 1 of the Arena Paris Sud during their second group match of the Paris Games.
Despite great self-denial, enthusiastic resistance and some fine defenses, the players of the French team were swept away in three sets (18-25, 16-25, 19-25) in 1 hour and 10 minutes of play by China, triple Olympic champion in search of a 4th star 40 years after the first consecration (1984, 2004 and 2016).
“We really fought from start to finish, we see that we can compete but we make silly mistakes, that’s called experience, notes Héléna Cazaute. We hope that in a few years we will be on the right side. We know that the road is still long but we are confident and we want to compete with these teams.”
Beaten by Serbia (3-0) on Monday for the first Olympic match in their history, the Blues suffered a second setback without taking a single set, which puts an end to their slim hopes of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Games. Even in the event of a feat and a victory in 3 sets against the United States on Sunday, they would remain behind the Americans, assured of having a better ratio of sets won/lost in the event of a tie on points.
An elimination without surprise. For their first foray into an Olympic tournament, Les Bleues, qualified as host country, started with a serious delay on their opponents. While Serbia (world number 9), the United States (6th and next opponent on Sunday) and China (5th) have been part of the world elite for years, France (19th) is discovering it.
The learning curve was set to be tricky for Héléna Cazaute’s teammates, and it was. They knew it. But the players have nevertheless shown clear progress since the Belgian coach took over in 2018. At the time, they were still ranked “54th in the world,” recalls Nina Stojiljkovic. “It’s a clear progression, I’m happy that the group has bought in and progressed,” continues the setter. It’s essential for us to string together matches against top 10 teams to maintain a consistently high level, which we can’t do today. We don’t want to stop there.”
But all this was not enough against China. A team that has 7 players (out of 12) over 1.90 m against only 2 on the Blues side. After a few moments of play, the French were already relegated by several cables (0-5). The first point, on an attack by Amandha Sylvès, caused a chain reaction of happiness and the cheers of the public. The beginning of a long way of the cross for the players but of a festive evening in the Parisian hall 1. Each time that Amandine Giardino’s partners scored a point it was celebrated as a victory.
After the expeditious loss of the first two sets, the blues of the Games sounded the revolt in the 3rd. Lucille Gicquel dropped the ball at the feet of the Chinese and kept alive the hope of a feat (12-12). A moment. “The 3rd set was a little better but we met a very good Chinese team that is physically superior to us, notes Lucille Gicquel. We are playing against teams that are among the best. We fought very well in defense but we still have work to do in attack. After all, it is our first year at this level, it takes time.”
The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday (1 p.m.) against the United States. No stakes but there is no doubt that the public will be there. “We don’t have time to be disappointed, there is no room for disappointment,” assures Gicquel, top scorer of the Bleues with 10 points. We had a good match against the USA in the VNL (Nations League) this summer, we hope to do the same thing again. Our state of mind remains the same when we enter the field, we give everything and in an atmosphere like this, we can’t be disappointed. We have to make the most of it.” “We really want to come out of this competition without regrets,” announces Héléna Cazaute.
