In a deafening din, they dance, jump into the air. Their Italian coach Alessandro Oreve hits the fists of happiness. Already victorious from the first round in the middle of the week on the banks of the Loire (3-2; 16-25, 25-17, 16-25, 25-21, 15-11), the volleyball players of Levallois-Paris Saint-Cloud Volley finished the job this Saturday evening in a Marcel-Cerdan sports palace as a egg. A year after their first title in 2024, the Mariannes 92 kept their property by winning in the second round almost on the same score (3-2; 25-21, 27-29, 19-25, 25-22, 16-13).
It took more than two and a half hours of play to decide between the two rivals. With a major ambition for the Mariannes: avoid the “Golden Set”. If Nantes had won by any score by taking three rounds, it would have been necessary to decide between the two teams in a gold set, a kind of sudden death. That is to say, play the whole season on a 15-point tie-break. Cruel, a little weird, this regulation point will not be renewed next season.
There was (fortunately) not needed this death tie of death but it did not go far. The Mariannes started the evening well by dominating the first set (25-21) but things were spoiled for them. The Neptunes, at the end of a long suspense, took the second round (27-29) then the third (25-19). Suddenly, the Mariannes 92 lost the thread of the match. We then saw them badly embarked.
-“Our secret? We all love each other ”
Fortunately for them, the partners of Argentina Bianca Cugno found the wire. They returned to the game in the fourth set (25-22) before playing everything in a first tie-break. He too remained undecided and tight. The two opponents found themselves equal to 10-10 before the Mariannes won the forceps. “Our secret, admits Captain Jazmine White, designated MVP of the meeting, is that we all love each other on and off the field. We respect each other and trust each other. »»
The Nantesaises are beaten for the fourth time in the final (after 2014, 2019 and 2024), the second since they became “Neptunes” in 2022, and failed on the last step a little more than a month after being dominated in the French Cup final by Mulhouse.
With this success, the new female volleyball boss in France is evolving in Levallois. He has 19 champion titles to win to equal the record of coronations held by Cannes, which still has room.
