France overcame Brazil to cap off its preliminary round campaign in the Manila leg of the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL).
France capped off its preliminary round campaign in the Manila leg of the 2024 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) with a hard-fought victory over Brazil, 25-23, 27-29, 13-25, 25-19, 18-16, at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday, June 23.
Reeling from a meltdown to Japan where they squandered a 2-0 set lead less than 24 hours ago, the Frenchmen displayed grit and composure to regain their winning form before heading into the quarterfinals with an 8-4 record.
A wild swing of momentum went down in the fifth set, as both teams figured in deadlock after deadlock.
Alan Souza and Adriano Fernandes created crucial breathing room for the Brazilians, who seized a 13-10 lead. However, Kevin Tillie and Yacine Louati tipped the scales back to the Frenchmen with a 3-0 spurt.
Lucas Saatkamp then committed a costly net touch violation before Joris Seddik botched a service attempt, setting up a two-to-win situation.
After a trade of blows and errors, Théo Faure buoyed France at match point. Quentin Jouffroy slammed the door shut on Brazil with a booming ace in the ensuing sequence.
Faure poured 29 points built on 25 attacks, three aces and a block.
Tillie also made his presence felt with 14 points, while Louati and Jouffroy pitched in eight markers apiece.
The Brazilians, on the other hand, concluded the preliminaries with a 6-6 slate, entering the Final Eight as the seventh seed.
Lucarelli paced the losing side with 18 points, while Alan and Adriano managed 15 and 11 markers, respectively.
Adriano and Flavio Resende scored 10 and nine, respectively, for Brazil, which also deployed veteran Bruno Rezende for the first time in this edition's Manila leg.