The Tours volleyball team, which is among the most successful clubs in France, started itssemifinal playoff seriesagainst Montpellier with a clean victory. In the first match of the best-of-two series, played in the Palace of Sports in Castelnau-le-Lez, Tours decisively defeated Montpellier with3:0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-23).
Even before the start of the match, the guests from Tours applied a psychological trick, as after winning the draw, captain Zeljko Coric swapped halves of the court for the end of the warm-up, disrupting the hosts' habits.
Despite Tours' high level of play, especially in attack, Bulgarian internationalDimitar Dimitrov was the most effective player for Montpellier. He was the only one to finish the match with a double-digit score, realizing21 points (1 ace, 1 block). In contrast, the team's star and Olympic champion with France - middle blockerNicolas Le Goffperformed disappointingly, recording only4 points (1 block).
Tours took the lead in the first set, driven by the strong performance of Alexandre Strelaou (10 points in the set). Despite Montpellier's efforts to get back into the set with a strong serve, Tours managed to close it out.
The second set proceeded in a similar fashion, with Montpellier continuing to struggle against their opponent's play. Despite Dimitrov's individual efforts, the lack of other players with double-digit contributions and Le Goff's weak play hindered the team. Key points at the end of the set, scored by Araka and Antoine Pothron from Tours, tilted the scales in favor of the visitors.
Although they were pushed to the wall in thissemifinal, Montpellier's players tried to resist in the third set. Supported by 2000 spectators, they made great efforts but failed to turn the tide. Montpellier's players "fell harder, to something bigger," as Araka once again delivered decisive attacks, ending the match with a 3:0 score.
With this loss, Montpellier finds itself in an extremely difficult situation, trailing 0-1 in thesemifinal series to two wins. The team is forced to seek a mandatory victory in the next match, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 2, in the "Grenon" hall in Tours.To advance to the final, Montpellier will have to perform a "huge feat," defeating Tours as a guest and then winning a possible third match as well.
We remind you that during the glorious history of Tours Volleyball Club, a number of distinguished Bulgarian players such as Plamen Konstantinov, Svetoslav Gotsev, and Vladimir Nikolov have also played.
