Germany beats Olympic champion France in four sets

GERMANY handed reigning Olympic gold medalist France a four-set stunner, 25-23, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23, to keep its bid for the quarterfinals alive in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Manila match of 2024 on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Ever-reliable 39-year-old spiker György Grozer showed no signs of rust with 21 points built on 18 attacks, two aces and one block to lead the world number 9 to his first victory in the Philippines since the 2022 edition of the tournament .

PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon

Moritz Reichert and Lukas Maase then contributed 12 points each, along with a pair of 10-point performances from Tobias Krick and Tobias Brand.

Although now Olympic bound, the Germans have yet to secure their place in the VNL quarter-finals as the current ninth seed with a 4-5 map.

A statement victory for Germany

Yet such an important victory was made even more special when they defeated an Olympic and VNL champion.

“I am very happy for the team because we won against France. It’s great for us. This is my first game after that (I’m skipping VNL 2023). I still had my mistakes and it doesn’t always go well, but we are working on it,” said Gyozer.

“But today we really did great things as a team. We were fighting. In important moments we didn’t drop our heads, we stayed strong and we fought against a very strong team, so I’m happy we won today.”

PHOTO: Sherwin Vardeleon

Ace hitter Jean Patry’s 20 markers were shocked and could not save the French from just their third VNL defeat this year. However, they remain in strong contention for a place in the quarter-finals in fifth place at 6-3.

Get more of the latest sports news and updates on SPIN.ph