Fans push France to opening-match five-set win against Serbia

France’s debut was one of the most-anticipated moments of the men’s volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Games and the occasion lived up to the expectations, sending thousands of local fans back home full of joy after the Olympic champions came from behind to beat continental rivals Serbia 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 25-17, 21-25, 15-6) on Sunday.

Playing in front of over 10,000 fans, with the vast majority supporting the home team, the French competed in an electric atmosphere, which ignited during the singing of La Marseillaise, the country’s national anthem, and continued throughout the entire match, with the 'Allez, Les Bleus' ('Let's go, Blues', in French) chants.

The victory gave France a head start in Pool A as the recently-crowned Volleyball Nations League champions were the first team in the pool to triumph, taking their first two points in the Olympic tournament - Serbia got one point despite the defeat.

One of ten Tokyo Olympic champions who are with the team in Paris, outside hitter Trévor Clévenot had a vastly productive night off the bench and led the French in their debut with 23 points (17 kills, five blocks, one ace). Opposite Jean Patry tallied 22, with 19 kills and three aces), while star outside hitter Earvin Ngapeth produced 14 (ten kills, three blocks, one ace).

"Playing the Olympics at home is amazing," Clévenot reflected. "When I was a kid, I dreamed about playing the Olympics, but to do it at home and as the defending champions, it's well beyond anything I could have ever dreamed. All we wanted was to play in front of our fans and they pushed us so much, especially in the tie-breaker, which was very important. Serbia played very well, but we fought until the end."

Serbia had middle blocker Marko Podraščanin, with 13 points (six kills, seven blocks), and opposite Drazen Luburić, with 12 (all in kills), as their main scorers in the match that marked their return to the Olympics for the first time since London 2012.

"It's the first Olympic match for most of our team and that feels good, but the feeling of leaving the court with a defeat is not as good," commented outside hitter Marko Ivović, who registered ten points. "We know we played very well and that makes us happy, but unfortunately we missed the chances we had to win the match. Having started the tie-breaker so badly was tough, but the way we played today gives us the belief that we can advance. These must be the toughest Olympics ever and I really don't know what to expect from the next matches, but we definitely hope we can win."

Both teams had extraordinary blocking performances, combining to register 29 stuffs - 17 for the French and another 12 for the Serbians.

Taking advantage of the support coming from the stands, France started in a strong rhythm and got a two-point lead (8-6) with a monster block by Barthélémy Chinenyeze. Serbia handled the French initial pressure and scored five in a row, moving up 11-8 with a block by Ivović. Blocking continued to be a factor and Clévenot got a stop to bring the difference down to a single point in 20-19 before Patry leveled the score at 21 with a powerful spike. Serbia remained strong in the final points and took the set 25-23 with a swing by Aleksandar Atanasijević.

The first-set loss didn’t upset France, which immediately jumped ahead 4-1 in set two with Earvin Ngapeth tooling the block. A Patry block had the French ahead 10-5 and forced the Serbians to request a timeout. The hosts remained dominant and had the Serbians stop the match again at 17-10. In the end, their dominant performance in the second was concluded with Ngapeth using the block to score 25-17.

The start of the third set was pretty even, but in the middle France started to charge ahead with Ngapeth stopping Podraščanin at the net to score 14-11. Remaining focused and consistent at the net, the Olympic champions and gave their opponents no chance, securing the 25-17 victory with a monster block by Antoine Brizard.

The setter placed the French in a comfortable position early in the fourth set, firing an ace to score 6-3. Serbia fought back and took the lead at 12-11, having the hosts request a timeout. The French found their rhythm after the break and regained control of the match, creating a two-point separation at 18-16 with a block by Nicolas Le Goff. When it seemed like France would take the win, the Serbians displayed strength, scoring nine of the next 12 points played to come back and win 25-21 following a French offensive error.

The fans brought the Olympic champions back to the game at the start of the tie-breaker and they responded with dominant first minutes, creating a 5-1 lead with a block by Le Goff. The Olympic champions continued unstoppable and in a matter of minutes the score showed them leading 10-2 following a Clévento ace. Keeping the rhythm, they closed the set 15-6 with a Serbian offensive error.

Slovenia top Canada in Olympic debut

In the other match of the night in Pool A, Slovenia made history, securing a victory in their first-ever match at the Olympics. The Europeans were dominant from start to finish and topped Canada 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21) to end the day at the South Paris Arena 1.

The triumph placed them in first place in the pool with three points, one more than France and two above Serbia - Canada haven't earned any points after their first match. With the 4.89 FIVB World Ranking points, the Europeans also passed France to get to fourth place in the list with 345.28.

Opposite Tonček Štern, who left the court in the first few minutes injured and then returned, was Slovenia's main scorer in the encounter, with 24 points. Outside hitters Klemen Čebulj and Tine Urnaut registered 15 and 13 points, respectively.

Canada got 17 points from outside hitter Eric Loeppky and another 14 from opposite Arthur Szwarc.

Paris 2024 – Match Schedule and Results

The men will have Monday off and will be back on the court on Tuesday with four matches – Italy vs. Egypt at 9:00 local time (7:00 GMT) in Pool B, USA vs. Germany at 13:00 local time (11:00 GMT) in Pool C, Slovenia vs. Serbia at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT) in Pool A and France vs. Canada at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT), also in Pool A.

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