EuroVolleyW: Russia meets France in its first match
Preview
After a couple of lighter days, the CEV EuroVolley Women 2021 takes a significant turn on Friday with as many as eight matches happening across the four host cities and involving 16 national teams. Half of those will be making their debuts in the tournament and among them are Russia and France, who will clash in Belgrade on Pool A.
The biggest winners of the EuroVolley with 19 gold medals (thirteen as Soviet Union), Russia enters the tournament looking to return to the top of the podium for the first time since 2015, after finishing sixth and seventh in 2017 and 2019.
Head coach Sergio Buzato has trusted a young roster to do so as after a busy summer with the Volleyball Nations League and the Tokyo Olympics, he left veterans Nataliya Goncharova, Irina Voronkova, Irina Koroleva, Anna Podkopaeva and Irina Fetisova out of the list for the EuroVolley.
Rising star Arina Fedorovtseva, a 17-year-old, 1.90m-tall outside hitter who burst into the international scene in 2021, will have a huge scoring responsibility but will be able to count on the guidance and experience of star setter and team captain Evgeniya Startseva.
The EuroVolley 2021 carries a strong importance to France as it marks the official start of the team’s preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympics, where they will compete as the host country and make their debut in the Games.
The goal of head coach Emile Rosseaux is to have his young team, which has outside hitter Héléna Cazaute and opposite Lucille Gicquel as its key players, steadily progressing over the next three years and having the opportunity to play one of the strongest national teams in the planet in Russia is one he doesn’t want to waste.
Emile Rosseaux“We’re going to face some really strong teams, there’s a reason our pool was called the group of death. When we play Russia or Serbia, which are teams we don’t get to play very often, we need to take it as a major opportunity. Playing against teams like these will be very important on our road to Paris 2024.”
France’s Head Coach