France has won its third gold medal of all time.
France won the men’s volleyball gold medal after defeating Poland 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-23) in the final match of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Arena 1 in South Paris, France, on Tuesday (June 10). Trevor Cleveno and Quentin Zuprej were the stars of the show. Clevenot was the best of the four outside hitters who started on the day, while Zuprej, a one-point server, shook up Poland’s receiving line every time he came out. His three service points late in the third set were the highlight of the match. With the win, France became just the third country to win back-to-back Olympic men’s volleyball titles, a feat previously held only by the former Soviet Union (1964-1968) and the United States (1984-1988).
Poland’s starting lineup was Tomasz Fornal, Bartosz Kurek, Marcin Janusz, Wilfredo Leon, Norbert Huber and Jakub Kohanowski. Pavel Zatorsky was the starting libero for France, whose starting lineup was Jean Patry, Hervé N’Gape, Barthelemy Chinenyeze, Nicolas Le Goff, Trevor Clevenot and Antoine Brizard. Xenia Grevenikov 토토사이트 wore the libero jersey.
It was a tightly contested match from the start of the first set. Neither side took it easy. It was the French who struck first. At 6-6, N’Gaffe scored on his serve, followed by an attack error from Hubert. Then, at 10-8, an attack error by Leon and a failed video review of Poland’s blocker’s touch on a blocker’s touch turned the tide in France’s favor.
Midway through the set, France continued to push forward with the home fans cheering wildly. At 13-10, Chinenyeze cut her opponent’s three-step process short and then went directly to the net to make it a four-point game. At 15-11, Chinenyeze capitalized on a chance ball from Leon’s unforced error with a crisp fastball. As the gap continued to widen, head coach Nikola Grbic pulled Leon and brought on Kamil Semeniuk, but France steadily maintained a four- to five-point lead to reach 20 points before Patry converted another Polish error at 24-19 to take the first set.
With both teams dropping serve in the second set, Kurek’s blast at 9-8 brought Poland within 10 points, but France, who had been chipping away at the deficit thanks to their opponent’s errors and wing firepower, fought back with back-to-back blocks by Brizard at 11-12. Shortly afterward, Le Goff’s floater was ducked and avoided by Zatorsky, but it landed on the end line to give France the lead once again. Poland wasted no time in turning things around. At 14-15, Ngape’s attack was blocked by Fornal, followed by Kurek’s attack to the right to retake the lead.
Coach Andrea Gianni then changed the setter to Benjamin Toniuti to try a new game plan. After a steady exchange of sideouts, France regained the lead at 17-18 when Quentin Jouffroy scored on his serve. Then, at 19-19, a decisive video review was made. It was a video review of a blocker touch on Kurek’s attack. The call was no touch, and the French were up 20 points. Patry scored at 21-19 and Clevenot at 23-20, and the French clinched the second set with Clevenot going straight to the pipe.
Poland found themselves in an uncomfortable rhythm early in the third set, with Leon’s attacks not working. At 2-3, Leon’s attack was blocked by Patry and Le Goff, respectively, to give France the lead. At 5-6, even Kurek’s attack was blocked by N’Gape, so Grbic brought on Alexander Slivka, who had a more clever attack to break through the French block, and Slivka scored from the left and right to put out the fire. The rest of the set unfolded with little separation between the two teams. It was Poland who first raised their game. At 15-14, substitute Apojit Bartlomiye Wojciech scored a counter-attack to give them a two-point lead.
But France didn’t back down. At 15-17, Patry blocked Bouchard’s attack and then converted an attack from the right side to tie the game. Then, at 18-18, Zuprej stepped up as a one-point server once again to serve out the set and put the French back on Poland’s back foot. Jouffroy continued to dominate the second half of the third set with more service points at 20-18 and 23-18. Poland’s late charge was just as fearsome. Leon’s heavy serve sent a chill down France’s spine as they closed to 23-24. But Leon is human, and his final serve went wide, and France were crowned Olympic champions for the second consecutive time.