France: Round 23 is over - Montpellier stop Tours. Win for Nice, Tourcoing, Saint Jean D’Illac, Toulouse and leaders Chaumont

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After the advance played yesterday, in which Nantes down Paris in straight sets to confirm themselves at second place, Round 23 of 2023/24 Marmara Spike League has been closed today, and not without upsets, including the win of last-placed Saint Jean D’Illac, the 3 points victory away of Nice, an earned point for second-to-last Narbonne and the ko of defending champions Tours on the field of Montpellier.
In the game that closed our volleyball Saturday, no problem for leaders Chaumont, who easily defeated Poitiers in front of their home fans with a clear 3-0 (25:21, 25:21, 25:20). In addition to a better performance in attack, with 18 points from MVP Victor Cardoso (with 2 aces, 3 winning blocks and 59% in attack), closely followed by Patrick Indra who added 17 with 1 ace, 1 block and 58% in attack, to make the difference was the serving, with 10 aces (0 for the rivals, who left the court without players in double digit). With this result, Chaumont confirmed themselves to the top, at +7 from their closest pursuers Nantes.
Behind them at -3 from the latter Tourcoing who, after a hard fought first set from start to finish dominated by the rivals in which they had to recover also from 19-21 and ended 31-29 after 35 minutes of play, easily defeated Sète with the same result, 3-0 (31:29, 25:15, 25:17) with a great performance in attack, a solid reception and 25 points from an excellent Pablo Koukartsev (64% in attack with 1 ace and 1 block).
3 points also for Nice, who celebrated a well-deserved 1-3 (25:19, 23:25, 22:25, 22:25) win on the field of Plessis Robinson, despite 25 points from absolute top scorer Samuel Jeanlys.
However, to make the difference, was Nice’s impressive performance in blocking, with as many as 19 points from this element, 6 apiece from middleblockers Rodney Ah-Kong (12 points and 67% in attack) and MVP Valerii Todua (14 points to his name through 67% in attack too and 2 aces). Top scorer on the winning side Simon Hirsch with 17 points with 3 blocks and 40% in attack.
The other news of the day is the away ko of defending champions Tours who, after a disastrous start followed by an impressive winning streak that brought them until third place, suffered a clear defeat on the field of Montpellier, 3-0 (25:18, 25:19, 25:21), able to led the game from start to finish with the only exception of the very start of third set. Dimitar Dimitrov was the most prolific player of the match with 15 points tho his name through 60% in attack, 1 ace and 1 block, followed by Luka Marttila, who added 12, and a super Danny Demyanenko, who scored 10 points through an impressive 89% in attack (8/9) and 2 winning blocks. Aboubacar Drame Neto was the only player for Tours in double digit with 14 points, all in attack, but with only 42%.
The other two games ended at tie break.
Toulouse struggled more than expected on the field of second-to-last Narbonne who, defeat apart, earned 1 very important points for the standings – 2-3 (21:25, 25:23, 25:18, 27:29, 12:15).
The hosts, in front of almost 1800 home fans, collapsed only at tie break despite 15 winning blocks (6 for the winners) and 27 points from Brazilian opposite Daniel Cagliari (1 ace, 1 block and 53% in attack), the same number of points of Julien Winkmuller on Toulouse’s jersey (53% in attack too and 1 block).
Tie break win also for newcomers and last-placed Saint Jean D’Illac who celebrated their fourth win in Ligue A after stunning Saint Nazaire with a 3-2 (18:25, 18:25, 25:19, 25:19, 15:10) game with lot of ups and downs in both sides.
Gauthier Bonnefoy was the most prolific player of the game scoring 21 points for the winners with 3 aces, 1 block and 57% in attack.

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🇫🇷| MARMARA SPIKE LEAGUE 2023/24 | JOURNÉE 23 | Round 23

Friday March 1, 2024
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Nantes Rezé – Paris 3-0 (25:20, 25:19, 27:25)

👉🏼Saturday March 2, 2024

• 19.00 (Local Time) | Plessis Robinson – Nice 1-3 (25:19, 23:25, 22:25, 22:25)

• 19.00 (Local Time) | Tourcoing – Sète 3-0 (31:29, 25:15, 25:17)

• 19.00 (Local Time) | Saint-Jean d’Illac – Saint Nazaire 3-2 (18:25, 18:25, 25:19, 25:19, 15:10)

• 19.30 (Local Time) | Narbonne – Toulouse 2-3 (21:25, 25:23, 25:18, 27:29, 12:15)

• 19.30 (Local Time) | Montpellier – Tours 3-0 (25:18, 25:19, 25:21)

• 20.00 (Local Time) | Chaumont – Poitiers 3-0 (25:21, 25:21, 25:20)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day)
1. Chaumont 55
2. Nantes Rezé 48
3. Tourcoing 45
4. Tours 45
5. Montpellier 44
6. Saint Nazaire 42
7. Toulouse 40
8. Paris 36
9. Plessis Robinson 30
10. Sète 29
11. Poitiers 27
12. Nice 18
13. Narbonne 13
14. Saint-Jean d’Illac 11

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🇫🇷| NEXT GAMES| JOURNÉE 24 | Round 24

Friday March 8, 2024
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Saint Nazaire – Tourcoing

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