Pushed by Poland for its first match in the League of Nations (defeat 3-1), the France volleyball team, outgoing winner, set the record straight this Friday morning. In Nagoya, Japan, Andrea Giani's men initially tied with the Chinese, before ramping up and dominating in the final two sets to secure a 3-1 victory over the world's 26th nation (25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-17).
With a revamped team, without Earvin Ngapeth and his captain, Benjamin Toniutti, the reigning Olympic champions were able to bring out other strengths. Timothée Carle, the receiver-forward who has just extended his contract in Berlin, had a great game (14 points, two blocks, two winning serves), as did Kevin Tillie (16 points). This victory puts the France back in 8th place in the ranking out of 16 nations. After two games, only the United States, Poland and Brazil are flawless.
To conclude this phase of the League of Nations in Nagoya the French will face Slovenia on Saturday (05:40) and Japan on Sunday (12:10). Their summer will be intense since weeks 2 and 3 of the League of Nations (June 21-25 in Orleans and July 4-10 in Anaheim, United States) as well as the Euro (August 28-September 16) will present themselves to them.