Finland fall in European volleyball semifinal despite early lead against France

Finland's men's national volleyball team was defeated 1-3 (17:25, 25:18, 18:25, 15:25) by Olympic champions France in the semifinal of the European Championship in Turin. The match was played in front of a half-empty arena, as local interest in Italy waned after Finland eliminated tournament hosts Italy 3-2 in a shock quarterfinal result.

Notably, Finland and France had already met earlier in this tournament's group stage, where Finland won 3-2. Last year, Finland also denied France a place in the World Championship round of 16.

Match progress

In the first set, Finland led 11:10 before France responded with a 7:1 run to close it out. Finland bounced back strongly in the second set to level the match. France then reasserted control in the third set, pulling away from a 4:4 tie to 13:5; Finland briefly closed the gap to 9:13 but France regained the upper hand. France's dominance was even clearer in the fourth set.

France served aces six times more often than Finland. Their top scorers were Mathis Henno with 21 points and Theo Faure with 20. For Finland, Noa Martila led with 13 points, followed by Jonas Jokela with 12.

Background

France has won the European Championship once, in 2015. Poland, champions three years ago, have again reached the final after beating Slovenia 3-0 in the other semifinal. Both medal matches — gold and bronze — will be played on Saturday evening.