France: Toulouse still alive! Tourcoing defeated at tie break and quarterfinal series to decisive Game 5!

2 min read

8 April 2024 Danilo

With regular season leaders Chaumont, No.7 Saint Nazaire who surprisingly eliminated No.2 and Coupe de France winners Nantes, and defending champions Tours already qualified to semifinals after 3 games, No.6 Toulouse proved to be better than No.3 Tourcoing in front of their home fans for second time in a row, and managed to win the game after a thrilling 3-2 (24:26, 25:19, 25:22, 23:25, 15:12).
A result that is worth 2-2 in Quarterfinals best-of-five series, and the decisive Game 5 in Tourcoing, like first two games.
After losing first set overtime and with the minimum gap, the hosts were able to control the next two sets and, were defeated in fourth one.
Very balanced start also in decisive fifth set, at least until a great turn from the service line from Nathan Feral (3 aces for him at the end of the match). With two great defenses from libero Facundo Santucci, eventually Toulouse managed to close the game despite the rivals’ impressive performance in blocking (16 to 8), and 31 points from bomber Pablo Koukartsev, top scorer of the match.
Among the winners, Julien Winkelmuller led the charge with 27 points including the one that closed the game, 1 ace and 52% in attack, while Florian Krage also contributed with 4 winning blocks.

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🏐| 2023/24 MARMARA SPIKE LEAGUE | Quarterfinals

GAME 1

Tuesday March 26, 2024
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Chaumont (1) – Paris (8) 3-1 (29:27, 21:25, 25:20, 25:20) Series: 1-0
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Nantes Rezé (2) – Saint Nazaire (7) 1-3 (21:25, 22:25, 25:21, 27:29) Series: 0-1
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Tourcoing (3) – Toulouse (6) 3-1 (26:24, 25:22, 20:25, 25:16) Series: 1-0
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Tours (4) – Montpellier (5) 3-2 (27:29, 25:20, 25:21, 20:25, 15:10) Series: 1-0

GAME 2

Wednesday April 3, 2024
• 19.00 (Local Time) | Tourcoing – Toulouse 3-1 (25:22, 25:22, 20:25, 25:22) Series: 2-0
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Chaumont – Paris 3-1 (25:21, 25:20, 18:25, 29:27) Series: 2-0
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Nantes Rezé – Saint Nazaire 0-3 (22:25, 21:25, 23:25) Series: 0-2
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Tours – Montpellier 3-1 (25:22, 25:21, 23:25, 25:23) Series: 2-0

GAME 3

Saturday April 6, 2024
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Paris – Chaumont 0-3 (20:25, 23:25, 18:25) Series: 0-3
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Toulouse – Tourcoing 3-0 (26:24, 25:20, 25:18) Series: 1-2
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Saint Nazaire – Nantes Rezé 3-2 (21:25, 25:22, 25:20, 23:25, 15:9) Series: 3-0
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Montpellier – Tours 2-3 (26:24, 14:25, 25:23, 15:25, 14:16) Series: 0-3