The French women’s volleyball team, already qualified for the round of 16, conceded its first defeat at the Euro, beaten 3 sets to 1 by the Netherlands in its 5th and last group match on Tuesday in Tallin. After four successes against Spain, Estonia, Finland and Slovakia and the assurance of finishing at least in second place in Group D, the Blues were dominated by the Dutch who will therefore finish at the top of the group. before the knockout matches.
France is now waiting for its opponent for the round of 16, Saturday or Sunday, the 3rd classified in Pool B currently dominated by Italy. The selection of Belgian coach Emile Rousseaux, who occupies 9th place in the European rankings, stood up to the 5th continental nation which conceded Tuesday in Estonia its first set since the start of the tournament by winning 25-23, 27 -25, 21-25, 26-24.
After a balanced first round, the Oranje, more serene than the Blues in key moments, emerged from their first set point. In the second set, the French, first imperial on the attack then in difficulty on the reception, overused a four-point advantage finally resorbed by formidable Dutch on the service.
Frustrated by this reversal of the situation, the French women avoided experiencing the same misadventure in the third round during which they constantly raced in the lead, led by Lucille Gicquel and Héléna Cazaute who had been very inspired since the start of the tournament.
But the Dutch had more solid nerves at the end of the match. Even trailing by four points again (18-22) at the end of the fourth set, Celeste Plak (leading scorer of the match with 22 points) and her teammates managed to turn around an uncomfortable situation to emerge from their second match point (26- 24).
