Faure powers France to 3-0 win over Slovenia

With opposite Theo Faure leading the way, France were able to beat Slovenia in three sets in Saturday’s men’s Volleyball Nations League opener in Burgas, but each of the sets was decided by the narrowest of margins. The three points gained lifted the defending champions into the Finals zone, in fifth place on a 4-3 win-loss record and 12 points, while Slovenia are ninth in the current VNL standings on 4-3 and 11.

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France stayed in control of the scoreboard for the most part of the three sets, with Slovenia following closely behind and occasionally taking the lead and even reaching some set points in the overtime of set two. Still, the result was a clean sweep, 3-0 (25-23, 29-27, 25-23) France’s way.

France did outplay Slovenia in all scoring elements, except for the unforced errors. Opposite Theo Faure produced three aces towards a match-high 16 points. Middle blocker Francois Huetz chipped in with four of the team’s 10 kill blocks to finish with 10 points. Just short of the double digits, outside Trevor Clevenot contributed one ace, two kill blocks and six points in attack right on his 31^st birthday.

“It’s a good day for me. We put up a good fight against Slovenia today. It was not easy at all, but it was a good win for us. And it’s also my birthday, so it’s a perfect day. And now we’ll take one beer for this,” Clevenot told VBTV. “It’s small details that made the difference. High-level volleyball is like this, so we are just happy about this win.”

On the Slovenian side, outside Rok Mozic put away a team-high 14 points, supported by opposite Toncek Stern with another 13.

“We had some really good opportunities, but at the ends of the sets we just made a little too many mistakes. Maybe it was a bit of a bad luck, but they won 3-0. Congrats to them!” said 22-year-old Slovenian middle blocker Janz Janez Krzic.

The second VNL match of the day, between Germany and Iran, is already underway in Belgrade. Hosts Bulgaria and their neighbors from Turkiye will take to the court in Burgas next, at 19:00 local time (16:00 UTC).

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