France Sweeps Pool A, Punches Ticket to World Championships

2018 FIVB WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP – MEN’S EUROPEAN QUALIFIER

• May 23 to June 4
• Results

Pool A Final Standings

France punched its ticket to the FIVB World Championships with a sweep of Germany in the Pool A finale. The French went 5-0 to win the pool, which took place in Lyon, France. Germany claimed the second spot at 4-1, earning its place in the European Qualifying third round.

Turkey swept Ukraine and Azerbaijan downed Iceland to close out pool play.

France, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Russia, Serbia and Finland earned the automatic berths to the 2018 FIVB World Championships by winning their respective pools at the European Qualifiers.

Azerbaijan 3, Iceland 0

All three sets started evenly with the teams divided by one or two points at the first timeout, but Azerbaijan pulled away in the second half en route to the 25-16, 25-17, 25-20 sweep.

Azerbaijan served up seven ace and racked up eight blocks to hold down the Icelandic effort in the match. Azerbaijan hit at a 55 percent clip, while Iceland managed just a 36 percent effort.

Rasul Ibragimov paced the victors with 10 points, including eight kills, while Dmitriy Obodnikov added nine points, with six kills, two blocks and an ace.

Theodor Oskar Thorvaldsson led all scorers with 13 points, including a match-high nine kills, two blocks and two aces.

Turkey 3, Ukraine 0

Gokhan Gokgoz put down 15 points, including a match-high 14 kills, to pace Turkey in a 25-16, 25-19, 25-20 win over Ukraine. Gokgoz hit at a 67 percent clip as Turkey registered a 52 percent effort as a team.

Turkey led Sets 1 and 3 from start to finish, but had to overcome an early 8-5 deficit in Set 2 for the win. The Turkish side went up 16-15 and carried on to the 25-19 victory.

In addition to Gokgoz, Yigit Gulmezoglu put down 11 points, including eight kills and a team-best two aces.

Oleh Plotnytskyi turned in 10 points to lead the Ukrainian effort.

France 3, Germany 0

The crowd of 4,300 saw their home team put on a show in a 25-22, 25-20, 25-20 victory to claim the top spot in the group and go undefeated in match and sets.

The French gave up their 8-5 lead in Set 2, falling behind 16-15, before rebounding for the 25-20 win. Other than that, the team led the match nearly throughout.

France put up 15 blocks and served up six aces in the victory. Seven miscues also aided the French effort. Germany did win the offensive efficiency battle with 45 percent to France’s 40.

Stephen Boyer registered 20 points, with 14 kills, four blocks and two aces to pace France. Trevor Clevenot added 10 points, including three blocks and two aces.

Christian Fromm chalked up 19 points for the Germans, including a match-high 18 kills, and Denys Kaliberda added 11, including three blocks.