The Mariannes 92 won their first French title at the expense of the Neptunes de Nantes. Initially trailing, they found the resources to win in four sets on Friday evening (19-25, 26-24, 25-17, 26-24), three days after winning the first match of the final at home.
Two huge Mariannes blue-and-pink flags sprang up, well guarded until Ljubica Kecman's attack surprised the Nantes defense and enabled Levallois Paris Saint-Cloud to lift their first French championship trophy. Just a few minutes earlier, the only sound to be heard was the two drums of the handful of Parisian supporters stationed in a corner of Mangin-Beaulieu, so stunned did the crowd seem to be, who had supported the Nantes so much this season.
The Neptunes' late surge in the fourth set (20-23, 24-23) kept their hopes alive and awakened their 2,500 fans, but to no avail. The final victory, after the Franciliennes' 3-0 win in Levallois on Tuesday, came much earlier. In a second set that the Nantes girls had mastered after taking the first (6 attacking errors for Levallois). Trailing 7-11, they unleashed the steamroller, thanks to the strong arms of Taylor Mims and Amélie Rotar on the attack, and Hena Kurtagic on the counter (14-11).
Then the lights went out, and the inevitable Bianca Cugno (46% attacking, 2 blocks, 1 ace) took advantage, well supported on Friday evening by her captain Karin Palgutova and Ljubica Kecman in attack. What's hard is that there was hope, unlike in the first match," lamented Nantes captain Amandine Giardino. We'd got our team back together, we were rolling, we had our energy, we were aggressive... and now we're starting to make mistakes for lack of lucidity. I can't explain it.
A look back at the regular season matches
Like their home game, the Levallois players never gave up. And they undoubtedly found a source of motivation in the two matches they lost during the regular season (0-3 on December 2 in Levallois, 3-1 on January 20 in Nantes), the first a few days after a European trip to Turkey, the second marked by the injury to setter Kaisa Alanko, named best player of the match on Friday evening, and a comeback by the Neptunes in a fourth set in which they were trailing 19-24.
Of course we were thinking about the bitter taste," says Paris libero Juliette Gélin. The advantage is that we'd never played them at 100%. We knew it was going to be tough to win in Nantes, but the resources we found at the end of the second set gave us confidence."
Condemned to celebrating their title and taking photos of themselves with their heavy trophy on a corner of the pitch, while the inconsolable Nantes were celebrated for their three-final season(Coupe de France title, Challenge Cup finalist), the Mariannes nonetheless savored their title, at the end of a regular season that finished in second place and a CEV Cup (C2) semi-final.
"Professionalism and passion
The first for the Franciliennes, after swapping the Stade Français name for Levallois and moving to the Hauts-de-Seine town a year ago. At the start of the season, you want to win everything and be French champion," continues Gelin. But it's different to do it, because we've struggled so much this season! We've played 43 matches and I don't know how we're still standing. This staff carried us through the season, we stuck together, there was no war of egos, just professionalism and passion. It's the first time I've experienced something like this.
Their coach, Alessandro Orefice, who has already won the title with RC Cannes in 2019 as assistant coach, can rest for "four days" before joining the Slovenian team for the international season. Later, he'll be thinking about the Champions League, which both of Friday evening's opponents will be returning to next season, and defending a title with, no doubt, only one of the weapons in his starting six, Argentina's Bianca Cugno. As for libero Amandine Giardino and Juliette Gélin, they ended up sharing a drink, before meeting up again with Les Bleues in a few days' time.