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Hungary claimed their second win in women’s EuroVolley 2021 qualification Pool E. On the second competition day in Belfort, they persevered through a five-set battle with hosts France to emerge with a 3-2 (26-24, 14-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-12) victory.

In a very tight first set, the lead changed hands several times. France saved Hungary’s first set point to push the set to overtime. Captain Greta Szakmary reacted with two kills in a row to tilt it to 26-24 Hungary’s way. The second set was balanced only through 11-11 when the home team broke away with five in a row and never looked back. They put more precision into their game and extended it to an emphatic 25-14 win, shaped up by Lucille Gicquel with a successful hit for the last point. The third set followed a similar scenario. After 9-9, France took control and opened a wide gap. While their Helena Cazaute and Hungary’s Agnes Pallag engaged in a scoring race with seven spiking points each, it was once again Gicquel who put away the winning point for 25-19.

Hungary had control of the scoreboard for most of the fourth set, opening a gap as wide as six points at 19-13. France managed to narrow it back down to just a point, but the visiting team stayed in front with Szakmary spiking for 25-23 to prompt a tie-break. It was a very competitive fifth set, with France maintaining a small lead for most of the time. After 12-10, however, Hungary made a victorious run of five points in a row to win the match and stay unbeaten in the pool.

France’s Helena Cazaute with 22 points and Hungary’s Agnes Pallag with 19 were the top scorers of the match.

Helena Cazaute, outside hitter of France: "We made too many mistakes to be able to finish and win this match. We can have regrets because we showed great skills and aggression in sets two and three... But we will go on and focus on the next match to come back strongly in the tournament."

Jakub Gluszak, head coach of Hungary: "I am very satisfied. It was good volleyball, even if both teams made mistakes. That's the price to pay when you take risks. Of course, I am very happy, but we need to focus on our goal, which is to qualify for EuroVolley and we still have four games to win, and first against Denmark tomorrow."