Béatrice Avignon

The cannonballs of Fabian Plak in the service and Patrik Indra on the attack ended up getting the better of the resistance of Saint-Nazaire, heroic in block defense this Wednesday evening in Chaumont. But it is indeed the Chaumontais, 3^es of the regular phase and four times finalists in the last five contested editions (champion in 2017), who will travel to Nantes on Sunday for the first round of the semi-finals (return Wednesday 26 and possible support Saturday 29).

The Haut-Marnais had to fight until the tie-break of this fifth match of the quarter-finals to overcome the Nazairiens, promoted this season, in a match under high tension. The fault was partly due to a video challenge failure, which led the players to protest regularly, the old fashioned way, to the main referee.

Shaken by the attacks of Kyle Ensing (19 points), and central Helder Spencer (20 points, 3 blocks, 1 ace), Chaumont knew how to make his bench speak (Plak, but also the libero Pierre Bouleau, entered in the third set) , tighten the screw on service in the last two sets, and rely on the left arm of Patrik Indra (27 points, 64% efficiency in attack), to maintain his near-invincibility at Palestra (two defeats in the regular season, against in Tours and Nantes).

“We’ve been playing this team for ten days, we know each other by heart, analyzed Raphaël Corre, the captain of CVB 52, at the microphone of beIN Sports. It’s all about the details, but we also had the advantage of having our audience to push us, to get the necessary resources. »

Like Nantes-Rezé, Tours, qualified in three rounds, had been waiting for the name of his opponent since last Friday. It will be Tourcoing, winner 3-1 in Narbonne, who finds the last four of the championship for the first time since 2009 (finalist).

Saint-Nazaire and Narbonne join Sète and Montpellier, eliminated in the quarterfinals by Nantes-Rezé and Tours, Paris and Poitiers, 9^e et 10^e of the Championship, in the mini-qualifying tournament for the European Cup (a place in C3) which begins on Saturday.

Winner without losing a set this Friday evening in Paris at the opening of the 24th day of Ligue A (26-23, 25-23, 25-20), Nantes-Rezé returns to a point behind the leader, Tours, which receives Toulouse on Saturday and was surprised by the Plessis-Robinson last week. Tourangeaux and Nantes, opposed in a week in Loire-Atlantique, are aiming for first place in the regular season, synonymous with qualification for the Champions League.

Chizoba, the sharp Brazilian of the NRMV, once again named best player of the meeting, carried his tired team by registering 25 points, with 61% efficiency in attack, 4 aces and 2 blocks. “We didn’t play very well, but the important thing is to keep our second place”summarizes libero Franco Massimino.

Too fair in reception and in key moments, Paris remains seven points behind Montpellier (8th) two days before the end of the regular season, and sees qualification for the play-offs escape. Dorian Rougeyron, coach of the capital club since 2011, will not see the quarter-finals before packing his bags for Tourcoing, but still has the opportunity to qualify his team for the Challenge Cup (C3), during a mini -final championship between the losers of the quarter-finals as well as the 9th and 10th of the regular phase.

Nantes will have to find the physical resources to face Tours, then Tourcoing, before the play-offs. “My players have really pushed more than usual (against Paris), observes Hubert Henno, their coach. It shows that we have a margin, even if it might not pass against more experienced teams. We’re going to recharge well for the next two weeks. » The next match will already have a taste of the final.