Saint-Nazaire creates a sensation and takes Tours in the first leg of the Marmara SpikeLigue

It is clear that Jordan Ewert’s block landed in the back of Touraine’s field. Tours may have tried the card of the newly blond Julien Faganas at the front, instead of the too predictable Aboubacar Dramé Neto (10/29 and 5 errors on the attack), his last attack did not cross the Nazairian wall. Once again, this Wednesday, the outsider from Loire-Atlantique, 7th in the regular season, played a poor trick on someone better ranked than him (4th) and extinguished, at the end of a largely controlled game, ​​an opponent who was still broken in the final, and who had not yet lost a game in the playoffs.

Particularly solid in block defence, and capable of creating danger from all sides (five players at least 8 points), Saint-Nazaire, for the last from Rubinho to Coubertin, used the instructions to the letter. ” Our trademark is the collective, observes Valentin Routeau, the Brazilian coach’s assistant. We don’t have one player with forty points and the others with less than ten, that’s what is difficult to read for our opponents, who have difficulty making choices. We on the other hand, we know their point is going to have a lot of balls, Palonsky too. »

Argentine Luciano Palonsky, who returned to Touraine as a medical joker for the playoffs, was also taken out, replaced by Estonian Märt Tammearu, only slightly bloodier. “ He missed a lot, sighs Marcelo Fronckowiak, the TVB coach. We were not good in attack, we were very bad in blocking defence, against an opponent who largely deserved the success. Although we had mastered Saint-Nazaire well at home (3-0 on 16 March, following a defeat by the same scoreline at Saint-Nazaire on 14 November), Today (Wednesday) we have not found the means to stop them. »

Saint-Nazaire offers itself the right to dream

In a melting room at Pierre-de-Coubertin, the reigning French champion seemed crushed by the pressure, letting the points slip away from the start of the sets. ” It’s like our home season, the glow is crazy », noted Titouan Hallé, troublemaker at the end of the net, on the microphone of beIN Sports. ” From the start we pushed hard, when we have an audience that the players are exceeded, admits Routeau. This season, when we were down, we managed to get results, losing in a tie-break instead of 3-0, thanks to our crowd. Without this support, we would not be where we are today. » Nazairiens, who were promoted last season, are one game away, or a golden set of 15 points in case of defeat in Tours on Sunday (7pm), from lifting a first French champions trophy. ” Tours is still favourite, but we are offering ourselves a wild card, an extra chance if we have to lose. It is nice to be able to say that we will be able to fight to the end. »

Without home advantage, SNVBA has already played four of its six quarter- and semi-final matches away from home, and all have won. An added advantage before arriving in Grenon on Sunday, in a pot comparable to Saint-Nazaire, with 2,000 more votes. A scenario that worked well for Tourangeaux last season, since after losing heavily at Chaumont (0-3), they had put together four winning sets at home, to get their ninth French championship title. Insufficient to boost Fronckowiak’s morale. ” I know we will have a good atmosphere at Grenon and last year is a very good memory, but we have to play more! If we play at that level, and if Saint-Nazaire keeps theirs, we shouldn’t dream. » There are three days left to find the crack in the wall.