In the Chaban Delmas hall in Castelnau-le-Lez, in front of 947 spectators, the Montpellier team defeated Poitiers with a score of 3:0 (25:17, 28:26, 25:23).
Bulgarian national player Nikolay K'rtev had a very strong match – 11 points, an excellent +10 rating, 1 block, and an impressive 77% attack efficiency.
The main scorers for the hosts were:
Vincent Matias – 16 points
Thomas Pasqual – 15 points
Nikolay K'rtev – 11 points
For Poitiers, only Puyol finished with a double-digit score – 14 points.
Montpellier won the match primarily due to their significantly better performance in attack:
| Metric | Montpellier | Poitiers |
|---|---|---|
| Attack efficiency | 53% | 39% |
| Points from attack | 49 | 31 |
Analysis: The difference in attack was decisive – Montpellier dominated with higher efficiency and almost 20 more points from attack. This element tipped the scales, especially in the second set.
The most contested was the second set, which went into overtime – 28:26, even though the hosts allowed pressure after a lead of around 21:20. In the decisive moments, however, the attack once again led Montpellier to success.
Leadership position
With this victory, Montpellier took the lead in the standings, at least temporarily, before the match of their direct competitor for the top, Tours, which is upcoming against sixth-placed Plessis-Robinson.
