“Chaumont Dominates Nantes-Rezé to Reach Men’s League A Final for 5th Time in 7 Seasons”

Chaumont remains in contention for a second title of champion of France. Crowned in 2017, the players of Silvano Prandi gave themselves the right to dream of ending their series of three consecutive losses on the last step. For this, they very clearly dominated the third and last trick of their series against Nantes-Rezé. After a victory in three dry sets on its floor for each of the two teams, it was in Loire-Atlantique that the final explanation took place… and it turned out to be as expeditious as the two previous rounds.

From the first exchanges, the Chaumont players took the lead, quickly taking a four-point lead. The gap then fluctuated between one and five lengths before settling for a long time at a window limited to between two and four units. Without forcing their talent, Nathan Wounembaina’s teammates (16 points) concluded the first set on the third occasion. Back to the wall, Nantes-Rezé had to react and stood up to their opponent for a very long time in the second round.

After the last two imperial rounds against the @NRMV44 after being down 1 race to nothing, the CVB52 file to join @ToursVolleyBall finally !#cvb52 #volleyball #Playoffs#chaumont #ensemble #burn #lecture #LNV pic.twitter.com/opI0AYRhXS

— CHAUMONT VOLLEY BALL 52 (@CVB52HM) April 29, 2023

Chaumont all in control

But, after holding on for a long time to one or two points, the proteges of Hubert Henno ended up losing ground in the “money time”. A streak of three points won in a row put Chaumont on the right track, then a single set point was enough to make the break in this beauty. The hope of reversing the trend existed among the teammates of Tomas Lopez Pascual (13 points)… but not for very long. Indeed, if the Loire-Atlantique players opened the scoring in the third set, they were then led from start to finish.

In pride, they were able to return to a length thanks to a 6-1 approaching the conclusion of the round but it was not further. After missing a first match point, Chaumont ended the suspense at the second opportunity to conclude (21-25, 19-25, 21-25) and joins Tours for a final which will be played in a round-trip match with a “golden set” if there is a victory everywhere.

VOLLEY – LIGUE A (H) / SEMI-FINALS
From April 23 to 29, 2023

TOURS (1) – TOURCOING (5): 2-0 >>> QUALIFIED TOURS
Match 1 – Tours – Tourcoing: 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 21-25, 25-27, 15-12)
Match 2 – Tourcoing- Tours : 1-3 (19-25, 25-23, 20-25, 22-25)

NANTES-REZE (2) – CHAUMONT (3): 1-2 >>> CHAUMONT QUALIFIED
Match 1 – Nantes-Rezé – Chaumont: 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-23)
Match 2 – Chaumont – Nantes-Rezé: 3-0 (25-22, 25-20, 25-21)
Match 3 – Nantes-Rezé – Chaumont

FINALE
TOWERS (1) – CHAUMONT (3)
First leg : Saturday May 6 in Chaumont
Return match : Saturday May 13 in Tours

In the event of a tie with a victory everywhere, whatever the score of the two matches, the title of champion of France will be awarded at the end of a golden set of fifteen points disputed at the end of the return match.