Nantes VB started much better, creating a comfortable lead at 17-10. The guests tried to push, breathing down their opponents’ necks. However, the French showed smart play in attack emerging victorious from this set.

C.S.M. Volei Alba BLAJ brought back the intrigue in the match by taking the second set. In the first minutes of it, the play was going point for a point, but then the players coached by Darko Zakoc would establish their way of playing. Despite of having taken the second set, BLAJ seemed a lot more tense in the next part. They lost concentration while, on the other hand, the French team entered the court highly motivated to show their best. And they did so by taking full control of the game in the next two sets.

Darko Zakoc, C.S.M. Volei Alba BLAJ head coach: “First of all, congratulations to the team of Nantes VB. They played very well and they surprised us because they fought for each ball. I am disappointed, of course. I don’t know what happened to my team. After the second set, I expected a different outcome, but the rest of the game was a disaster for me as a coach. We’ll have a lot of things to change for the future. For sure, our level is higher than what we have shown tonight and I hope that we will be able to show it in the next games."

Katarina Schwabe, MVP of the game: “I think that the whole team has really enjoyed this game because the venue was pretty full and there was a big crowd. The fans really supported us. We performed very well tonight. We had a good rhythm and it was very important to win today. We are playing in the biggest competition and we are all at 100%. This is what you need sometimes to win the game, an extra motivation.”