Volleyball: Arago de Sète stalls on the starting line

Hugo De Leon a livré une prestation complète. Ce fut beaucoup plus difficile pour les autres. MIDI LIBRE – Jérôme Belluire

The Sète team, apart from a few flashes of brilliance, lacked consistency this Sunday, October 6 in Béziers, against Tourcoing (1-3).

New venue, supporters looking for their bearings, a team that had been remodeled in a big way… Arago had trouble getting into the game. Struggling to serve, against a Tourcoing team that managed to speed up the game, the Sète team were quickly left behind (11-15). After another missed serve and attack, the score turned to 16-22. And the end of set reaction (19-23) was just for the story, Elser being blocked on the last point (19-25).

The good passage

The best face of Arago was seen in the second set. Two long exchanges were won by the Sète players (8-7 and 13-12). Enough to take a psychological advantage, then reinforced by a good passage from Gyimah on the counter (16-13, 17-14). Enough to never see the Northerners again (25-22).

There was still reason to hope in the next set, despite Cardin's exit (who had to ice his knee). Two aces from Elser gave the advantage (18-17), but the Canadian was then blocked by Roehrig (19-20). With two attacks and a counter, De Leon (the best player from Sète) restored order (22-20) but after many missed serves, Arago finally gave in to an ace from Martinez Franchi (26-28).

The bad face

The match was, in fact, over. Because Tourcoing, little by little, broke away in the 4th set (12-16). And especially because Sète, inconsistent and lacking life, gave up. At the end of the set, Arago took block after block, the last two being signed by Tizi Oualou (16-25).

The technical sheet

► Sète………………………1
► Tourcoing……………..3

Palais des Sports de Béziers
Around 300 spectators
Referees: MM. Djadoun and Blanc.
Set details: 19-25, 25-22, 26-28, 16-25.

Sète: 4 aces (De Leon, Gyimah, Elser and Schlienger), 31 winning attacks (De Leon 19), 13 blocks (Gyimah 7), 27 unforced errors (including 19 missed serves).
Starting six: Gelinski (1), Cardin (6, then Schlienger 3), De Leon (22), Elser (15), Gyimah (15), Gauna (6, then Rippert). Libero: Lopez.

Tourcoing: 6 aces (Martinez Franchi 3), 52 winning attacks (Koukartsev 22), 15 blocks (Koukartsev, Luengas and Tizi Oualou 3), 18 unforced errors (including 13 missed serves).
Starting six: Tizi Oualou (5), Koukartsev (24), Martinez Franchi (12, then Lavigne), Luengas (16), Parkinson (6, then Aru), Roehrig (10). Libero: Loubeyre