Inspired France sweep Canada and advance to Paris quarterfinals

France were the second team, after Slovenia, to qualify for the quarterfinals of the men’s Olympic volleyball tournament after beating Canada in straight sets on Tuesday evening in their second Pool A game at the packed South Paris Arena.

With the fans on the stands creating a fantastic ambience at the venue, the home team hammered out a 3-0 (25-20, 25-21, 25-17) shutout of their North American opponents and secured one of the top two spots in the final Pool A standings, together with Slovenia, whom they are going to meet in a head-to-head duel for the first place on Friday. On the following day, winless Canada and Serbia will face each other for the third place in the pool.

In the first set of Tuesday’s match, France managed to break away thanks to an Earvin Ngapeth ace and some solid blocking at the net, but then what practically sealed the deal for the set were the amazing four aces in a row by setter Antoine Brizard that led to a 21-16 French lead. Finally, another ace by sub-in Quentin Jouffroy brought in set point at 24-19, converted a moment later to a 25-20 close with a successful swing by outside Yacine Louati. France quickly cancelled an early Canadian lead in the second set and took control of the scoreboard for the rest of the set. Finally, middle blocker Nicolas Le Goff stayed alert to put away the 25-21 set winner. Inspired by the incessant support of the home crowd on the stands, France continued to dominate throughout the third set. Eventually a monster block by Ngapeth brought in match point, which was shortly turned into a 25-17 win and a victory celebration for the home team and their fans.