#France: all news after Round 18...

After the win of Nice at tie break in the advance played on Friday (3:2 against Sete), Round 18 of the French Ligue A was completed.
What’s happened? Victory in straight sets for Tourcoing and Ajaccio, respectively against Cannes and Toulouse and another victory for Montpellier, 3:1 against Poitiers and now second in the standings. Victory in four sets also for Chaumont, away against Rennes, and Tours confirms its leadership, winning in 4 sets away against Narbonne.
So, nothing to do for Cannes, which suffers another defeat, this time more clear than the previous on the last matches, away against Tourcoing. The game was practically one-way, with the hosts who have always led the game. Ronald Jimenez was the absolute top scorer of the match with 19 points and 62% in attack, while Juhkami contributed with 15 and Mc Donnell added 4 winning blocks. In Cannes, Hamzagic scored 11 points (but with only 30% in attack), and Koncilja 10. For Cannes, the situation is increasingly difficult now, and the team has remained alone at the bottom of the standings…
Great victory in straight sets for Ajaccio, away in Toulouse: after the first set that was a battle, from the uncertain result until the last point, Ajaccio had no problems winning a game played really well. Milan Pepic was the absolut top scorer of the match with 12 points and 59% in attack, while his teammates Mendez (with 71% in attack!) and Radic contributed for Ajaccio’s victory with 10 points each. On the other side, only Demyanenko reached a double-digit performance. 10 points also for him.
Another victory also for Montpellier, who thanks to (another) defeat of Rennes, is now in second place in the standings at -6 from Tours. The first set, won by guests 27-29, was a battle, and Montpellier reacted well, winning the next two sets without too much difficults. Poitiers tried to reopen the game in the fourth set, but really congratulations to the hosts who managed to win the match, thanks also to their top scorer Patry who scored 23 points with 58% in attack. The real winning weapon of Montpellier, however, was the block: 15 winning blocks, against just 5 of Poitiers.
Another defeat for Rennes, which after the injury of Schops is confirmed in a really negative period. Now the team is in third place in the standings, with Chaumont behind -1, Nice at -2 and Ajaccio at -3. Van der Dries was the best scorer of the game with 18 points, but it was not enough for the hosts. On the winning side, Atanasov scored 13 points, Ben Tara 12 and Averill 10.
The victory of the leaders of Tours in Narbonne closes the picture of the Round 18. Narbonne wins the first set, but the guests are too strong, and manage to win the game without much difficulty. Baroti was the top scorer of the match with 20 points, while in Tours Egleskalns scored 15 points.