French women's volleyball is waking up. Perhaps pricked in their pride by the success of the hexagonal team sports during the Olympic Games in Tokyo, for which they had not managed to qualify, the Blue decided to make up for it at Euro 2021 with a qualification for the quarter-finals, a stage of the competition that they had not reached since 2013. The young Blues (less than 22 years old on average) will be opposed on Wednesday to the winner of the match between Serbia, double tenants of the title, and Hungary. “
We are going to celebrate because it is the first time for France in the quarterfinals for a long time. We will wait for the name of our opponent. The important thing is to stay focused and give everything
», Reacted the central Amandha Sylves, author of the last against on the match point against Croatia, reversed in five sets (16-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 15-12).
After a logically delicate start to the competition with two expected defeats against Russia (1/3) and Serbia (0/3), the French women were able to raise their level to chain three victories in a row and clinch third place in their group. And in this quarter-final against the Croats, the Bleues confirm their rise to power and prolong the beautiful summer of French volleyball, after the Olympic coronation of the men's team. Too shy, the French have yet missed their start to the match, yielding the first set 25-16. More incisive and more present in reception then, they removed the second set 25-21 thanks in particular to two blocks on the last points. In a balanced third set, the French ended up breaking down and offering the Croats four set points. On a last block-out by Héléna Cazaute,the Blues let the third set slip by 25-22. But after a neck-and-neck final, the French snatched the fourth set 25-22 to afford a tie-break (15-12) and a ticket for the quarters.