France signed its third victory in the group stage of Euro-2023 volleyball against Israel three sets to nil (25-21, 29-27, 25-17), Saturday in Tel Aviv.
The 2021 Olympic champions, already winners of Turkey (3-0) and Portugal (3-1), are almost guaranteed to participate in the round of 16 of the tournament which will take them to Bulgaria in Varna.
Group D leader with nine points, they have two group matches to play, against Romania on Monday and Greece on Tuesday.
Two matches which should allow Andrea Giani, the Italian coach of the Blues, to continue to rotate his workforce as he did on Saturday against the Israelis, 68th in the world rankings but winners of their two previous matches.
It’s a completely revamped team that started the game with in particular Benjamin Toniutti in the pass, Timothée Carle, whose coming into play and 19 points made the difference against the Portuguese, and Earvin Ngapeth who is continuing his step by step return to competition after a three-month forced break due to injury.
The Blues star finished the match with seven points and two aces and it was Carle again who finished top scorer with 14 points.