France - Pro A 2008/2009

  • Winder played. He was replaced by Lavallez in the 4th set after the bad start of Tourcoing.
    Gilson played all the game. He was the best scorer of the final 4 since he had to perform most of the attacks for Tourcoing (he scored 28 points against Rennes), but after a good start in the final he was less and less efficient as the game was going on. I guess a 41 years old player can't be really efficient when it's the 60th or 70th spike he is performing in a 24 hours span ...


    About stats for the cup games, all I got was in the press:



    contres = blocks
    attaques = spikes
    points sur fautes directes = points on unforced errors of the opponent
    au service = on serves

  • Quote

    What do you mean by "hussle" ?

    well, yeah, maybe I didn't use the right slang for the word I meant :) I wanted to say that during the past 2-3 years there are always weaker teams reaching the Final Four of the French Cup. Last year the final was between Beauvais and Montpellier, this year Rennes is among the four teams to reach this phase while teams like Cannes, Paris Volley, Poitiers are eliminated early... seems to me that big teams just play seriously in this cup only if they somehow reach the semifinal... it's just the impression I have made ;)

  • Thanks a lot Armel, I follow your league with great interest ( I just saw in a site a game of Rennes against Tours, you have a good team over there) but I guess the match was couple of weeks (or months) old.

  • OK.


    First, all the Europe contenders teams are taking the cup really seriously.
    But a few things happened this year.


    First Cannes - despite having most of the French NT players - is playing really bad (see their ranking in the championship) and Toulouse (playing quite well in the other hand) managed to defeat them in Cannes for the 1/4 game.
    Secondly, Rennes was organizing the 1/8 against Paris. This game took place two days after Paris played its challenge round game in Almeria. Paris does not have enough players to rest some of them sometime, and Rennes who is playing quite good since a few weeks, was able to defeat them while they were tired.
    And Poitiers was simply defeated in Tourcoing in the 1/4 game. (Poitiers played especially bad this day).


    Last year, Beauvais's victory was a bit surprising but they were one of the 4 or 5 best teams in France. They defeated Cannes in semi-final -and Montpellier defeated Tours as well- so even in semi-final great teams could not manage to defeat underdogs like Montpellier or Beauvais.
    And this year, Toulouse almost won the semi against Tours !


    I think that you don't realize how close the french teams are from each others ! A team like Tourcoing (currently ranking 4th of the championship) has a record of 7 defeats out of 21 championship games this season, including two defeats against Toulouse, one against Beauvais and an other against Montpellier. Rennes's record since january the 24th is 6 victories (including Paris in cup, Cannes and Beauvais in championship) for 3 defeats (Tourcoing twice and a very close 5 setter at Tours 10 days ago), that's telling you how good Rennes is currently playing...

  • 19th day result (played wednesday):


    Tours 0/3 Alès 19-25 22-25 23-25 P2



    22nd day results:


    Paris 3/1 Beauvais 18-25 25-23 26-24 28-26
    Poitiers 1/3 Tourcoing 24-26 25-17 20-25 20-25 P2
    Narbonne 3/1 Sète 25-17 29-27 9-25 25-18 P2
    Saint-Brieuc 2/3 AS Cannes 25-23 25-18 19-25 24-26 11-15 P2
    Toulouse 0/3 Tours 22-25 22-25 32-34 P2
    Rennes 3/1 Alès 25-23 19-25 25-16 25-22 P2
    Montpellier 3/0 Saint-Quentin 25-15 25-19 25-17 P2


    Ranking:


    1. Paris 57
    2. Poitiers 52
    3. Tours 46
    4. Tourcoing 42
    5. Toulouse 36
    6. AS Cannes 36
    7. Beauvais 33
    8. Saint-Quentin 32
    9. Montpellier 28
    10. Rennes 28
    11. Sète 27
    12. Alès 26
    13. Narbonne 14
    14. Saint-Brieuc 5



    There is a huge fight for the 7th and 8th spot (and a place in the play-off).
    The defeats of St Quentin and Beauvais allow teams like Montpellier, Rennes, Sète and Alès to make a possible come-back.
    I think Beauvais can keep one of these spot, but St Quentin's record for the last 12 games is absolutely horrible, they won only two games: against Saint Brieuc and Narbonne. Seeing how well Rennes is doing (see below) that's going to be very hard for St Quentin to keep the 8th spot...

  • 23rd day results:


    Beauvais 0/3 Poitiers 21-25 23-25 17-25 P2
    Tourcoing 3/1 Narbonne 25-20 23-25 25-20 29-27 P2
    AS Cannes 3/2 Paris 25-19 16-25 18-25 25-22 15-13 P2
    Tours 3/1 Saint-Brieuc 25-18 25-21 22-25 25-22 P2
    Alès 0/3 Toulouse 19-25 19-25 25-27 P2
    Montpellier 3/0 Rennes 25-22 25-23 25-22 P2
    Saint-Quentin 1/3 Sète 27-25 27-29 19-25 21-25 P2


    Ranking:1. Paris 58
    2. Poitiers 55
    3. Tours 49
    4. Tourcoing 45
    5. Toulouse 39
    6. AS Cannes 38
    7. Beauvais 33
    8. Saint-Quentin 32
    9. Montpellier 31
    10. Sète 30
    11. Rennes 28
    12. Alès 26
    13. Narbonne 14
    14. Saint-Brieuc 5



    There are three days remaining before the play-off. Cannes almost secured a place in the play-off with its victory over Paris. But Beauvais and St Quentin's defeats are making the fight for 7th and 8th spots the more fierce !

  • 24th day results:


    Narbonne 1/3 Beauvais 25-19 19-25 29-31 18-25 P2
    Sète 1/3 Tourcoing 20-25 26-28 25-23 17-25 P2
    Poitiers 3/2 AS Cannes 25-16 25-23 21-25 21-25 15-12
    Paris 1/3 Tours 28-30 25-20 21-25 24-26 P2
    Saint-Brieuc 3/0 Alès 25-20 25-17 25-15 P2
    Toulouse 3/1 Montpellier 25-17 25-23 29-31 25-14 P2
    Rennes 3/2 Saint-Quentin 28-26 22-25 25-18 24-26 16-14 P2


    Ranking:


    1. Paris 58
    2. Poitiers 57
    3. Tours 52
    4. Tourcoing 48
    5. Toulouse 42
    6. AS Cannes 39
    7. Beauvais 36
    8. Saint-Quentin 33
    9. Montpellier 31
    10. Sète 30
    11. Rennes 30
    12. Alès 26
    13. Narbonne 14
    14. Saint-Brieuc 8


    Huge fight for the 8th place and the play-off !
    Beauvais probably secured its place tonight, but Sète and Montpellier's defeat along with Rennes defeating St Quentin make everything always possible.


    Still:
    - St Quentin has a tough schedule, playing against Tourcoing and then at Toulouse. I don't believe they will win any of these games.
    - Montpellier will play against St Brieuc and then at Paris. They will probably not loose to St Brieuc (but that will probably not be an easy win either) and it would be hard for them in Paris. I expect them to score 3 points.
    - Sète will play in Beauvais and then against Cannes. Maybe they can win one of these games, but probably not two. In fact I am more expecting them to loose twice in close games.
    - Rennes will play in Toulouse and then at St Brieuc. I doubt they can win in Toulouse, but if they do so, they won't loose at their "neighbour" St Brieuc.

  • 25th day results:


    Beauvais 1/3 Sète 19-25 14-25 25-17 13-25 P2
    AS Cannes 3/0 Narbonne 25-23 25-11 25-19 P2
    Tours 0/3 Poitiers 24-26 19-25 23-25 P2
    Alès 3/2 Paris 30-28 27-25 23-25 22-25 15-13
    Montpellier 3/0 Saint-Brieuc 25-17 25-20 25-13 P2
    Toulouse 3/1 Rennes 22-25 25-10 25-22 25-19 P2
    Saint-Quentin 3/2 Tourcoing 25-17 25-27 23-25 25-19 20-18 P2


    26th day results:


    Tourcoing 1/3 Beauvais 29-31 24-26 25-14 22-25 P2
    Sète 3/1 AS Cannes 15-25 25-20 42-40 25-20 P2
    Narbonne 3/2 Tours 15-25 12-25 25-23 25-23 15-9 P2
    Poitiers 3/0 Alès 25-19 25-23 25-20 P2
    Paris 0/3 Montpellier 20-25 18-25 23-25 P2
    Saint-Brieuc 0/3 Rennes 23-25 24-26 23-25 P2
    Toulouse 3/2 Saint-Quentin 24-26 22-25 26-24 25-23 15-11 P2


    Final Ranking:


    1. Poitiers 63
    2. Paris 59
    3. Tours 53
    4. Tourcoing 49
    5. Toulouse 47
    6. AS Cannes 42
    7. Beauvais 39
    8. Montpellier 37

    9. Sète 36
    10. Saint-Quentin 36
    11. Rennes 33
    12. Alès 28
    13. Narbonne 16
    14. Saint-Brieuc 8


    Play-off (first game the 22nd of April, second game the 25th of april and a 15 points golden set as tie-breaker):


    Montpellier - Poitiers
    Beauvais - Paris
    Cannes - Tours
    Toulouse - Tourcoing


    St Quentin wasn't able to keep the 8th spot, and Montpellier defeated Paris to take it at the last game. Beauvais put itself in a difficult situation after losing to Sète last saturday, but this evening they were able to save their place by winning at Tourcoing.


    The last results are a bit strange because many teams either rested some players (Toulouse, Tours) or were not able to play with the full team (Paris). I think that only Poitiers took it seriously until the end, and they are rewarded with a first place.


    I attended the Tours vs Poitiers game saturday, and it was a weird one. Tours did not play well and Poitiers was consistent, but somehow Poitiers did not win the 1st and 3rd set with a huge margin. Tours even had a set point, leading 24-23 in the first set, after having trailed by 8 (7-15) at some point ! The only good news was that Earvin Ngapeth played really well after coming back from the youth European championship (7/9 on spiking) so if the starters don't play well in play-off, he will be able to come off the bench and make an impact. But still I think that Tours will be in trouble if Knudsen and Schalk are not playing well.

  • About the play-off games:


    Montpellier - Poitiers will probably be no problem for Poitiers. They are playing well, they hired a joker opposite (brasilian Fernando Fagner Da Costa who played really well in Tours), and their opposite (Dominican Jose Miguel Caceres) will be able to play in the playoff after his injury. Therefore they have two good players.
    Beauvais - Paris should be no problem for Paris. But a lot of Paris players are injured. Hubert Henno is even rumored to come as a joker libero to replace brasilian Marcos De Oliveira. So far I don't know what to think about Paris's level of play. (they lost there 3 last games of the championship...)
    Cannes - Tours would be a little bit closer, but Tours took the time to be ready for the play-off when Cannes is still looking for a solution. Their opposite Greek Appostolos Armenakis is not playing good, they won some game with Ludovic castard playing as an opposite (like he was doing in Paris last year), but if he plays as opposite, Cannes has no backup as outside-hitter . And both Samuele Tuia and Loïc Geiler may be in trouble in receiving at any time. So as long as they are OK, Cannes would be all right, but as soon as Cannes opponent find a way to put any them in trouble, they won't be able to replace the struggling receiver ...
    Toulouse - Tourcoing would be the closest game. A lot of changes are rumored in Tourcoing for next year and Toulouse is a tough team to beat. Last week I was joking around with Tours's fan and telling them that I would rather have Tours playing against "Cannes that can lost to anyone", than against "Toulouse that can defeat any team". Toulouse always play at 100% until the game is over, they make very few mistakes and it's really not easy to win against them. So even if Tours defeated Toulouse 3 times this season (and struggled against Cannes with two 5 setters : 1 win and 1 loss) I'm glad that we are not playing against Toulouse. To me both tema have exactly the same chances to qualify for the semi-final. (most probably against Poitiers)

  • The second game between Poitiers and Montpellier will be broadcat on Poitiers's website this saturday (April 25th). :)

  • Yes, but it looks like this pro B game, broadcast from France 3 Corsica would only be available in France ... :thumbdown:

  • That's too bad, I wanted to see the Israeli MB who plays in Ajaccio as well as their lefty American Opposite, I heard he is good.


    Back to your team Tours, do you know if Davidiuk stay for next season as well?

  • I don't know for Davidiuk.
    He's only a backup here and he had only a one-year contract. He was amazing on the french cup semi-final and really won us the game, but he was quite disapointing on the cup final and was quickly replaced by Le Marrec. Someone posted on TVB's board that Loïc De Kergret might come next year to be the backup for his last season as a pro. I still have not been able to figure out if this was a joke or not !


    News from the games tonight.


    First surprise: Montpellier defeated Poitiers 3-1 ! Dallas Soonias and Shafranovich were huge.
    Second surprise: Paris strugling in Beauvais, with a close victory 3-2
    Toulouse - Tourcoing is not over the tie-break is still going on.
    Tours won rather easily in Cannes : 3-1

  • Quarterfinals:


    Montpellier 3/1 Poitiers 25-23 26-24 14-25 26-24 P2
    Beauvais 2/3 Paris 18-25 19-25 25-22 25-23 16-18 P2
    AS Cannes 1/3 Tours 25-18 24-26 15-25 15-25 P2
    Toulouse 3/2 Tourcoing 21-25 25-22 19-25 25-23 15-10 P2


    The return games will be played Saturday.
    If the winner of this second game is different from the winner of the first one, a 15 points golden set will be played to break the tie. (For example, if Tourcoing win 3-0 against Toulouse, a golden set will be played).



    As I said, Montpellier was able to win against Poitiers. It's a bit surprising, but I think that Poitiers will be able to make it to the semifinals Saturday, or it will take another very strong game from Montpellier !


    Beauvais almost won against Paris. I don't really know what to think about this one. Jasmin Cuturic (hired as a joker) played really well along with opposite Pavel Bartik. So Beauvais can be a problem for Paris. Still I don't think they will be able to win the second game. Maybe a close victory for Paris in the second game.


    Tours started the game awfully (15-7 lead for Cannes) then was able to play more or less at the same level than Cannes (without being really good). Cannes had a 2 to 3 points lead for most of the second set (after leading 16-12) that Tours was able to cut at the very end, perhaps at the same time that Earvin Ngapeth replaced Kristian Knudsen. After the win of the set (24-26), all was said. Earvin Ngapeth remained on court (though struggling even more than Knudsen telling by the stats) and he probably bring some fighting spirit to the team. Anyway for the last two sets, Tours's opposite David Konecny was absolutely unstoppable and scored spike after spike, ending with 27 points. In the same time, Cannes's receving was less good, and Cannes's spikers were almost unable to score anymore. As an exemple, Vadeleux scored 7/10 spikes for the 1st and 2nd set, and 0/2 for the third and fourth. As I explained last week, all Tours as to do is to play good enough to put Cannes in trouble (in a way or another) and win the game out of Cannes's mistakes. It's easier say than done, but Tours did it pretty well tonight. Still Cannes has great players in its roster and everything is always possible coming from them. But I can't see how Cannes could find out suddenly what they have not been able to find since september.


    Toulouse defeated Tourcoing in a close game, which was no surprise. I'm expecting an other close game in Tourcoing. For me it's impossible to predict the winner of this one!

  • Quaterfinals, second game:


    Poitiers 1/3 Montpellier 25-22 23-25 19-25 20-25 P2
    Paris 3/1 Beauvais 25-21 26-24 21-25 25-16 P2
    Tours 3/1 AS Cannes 25-14 28-30 25-17 25-12 P2
    Tourcoing 3/0 Toulouse 25-23 25-16 25-20 P2 Golden set: 15-12



    The semifinales will be:


    Montpellier vs Tourdoing
    Tours vs Paris


    Comments:
    Incredible elimination of Poitiers. I have not been able to watch the game on internet (see the "music" topic for explanation ! ;) )
    Tourcoing had seemingly no problem to defeat Toulouse, Tours let Cannes play only for the second set, and Paris keep in control against Beauvais as well.
    I'm just wonderinf if Montpellier is so good right now, or if Poitiers lost it...

  • The return games will be played Saturday.
    If the winner of this second game is different from the winner of the first one, a 15 points golden set will be played to break the tie. (For example, if Tourcoing win 3-0 against Toulouse, a golden set will be played).


    Tourcoing 3/0 Toulouse 25-23 25-16 25-20 P2 Golden set: 15-12


    You should take part in some prediction games. 1st place guarantee :whistle:

  • :lol:


    The only time I won such a game, that was the one organized on Loïc de Kergret's website. And I won it by mistake !
    We were supposed to guess the ranking of the first part of the championship (before the return games). But I missed something and made a list with what I believed would be the final ranking... :aww:


    Still my "not-guess" was the good one ! 8o