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NARBONNE Volley are the newly crowned #CEVChallengeCupM champions, after emerging victorious from a Golden Set (21-19) in the Big Finale of this year’s edition of the competition. After three hours of play and a very hard-fought match, the players around head coach Guillermo Falasca were able to make happy more than 3.600 fans at the Narbonne Arena, taking the gold. 

Entering the title-deciding match after a 0-3 loss from the home match, the French showed great determination and motivation, winning at 3-1 the fixture, and then seizing on their fifth golden setpoint. Halkbank, on the other hand, struggled in the important moments, and although they’ve were giving it constantly a try, they couldn’t reach their full potential. This way, the Turkish miss a chance to claim the title for yet another season, after finishing third in 2021.

On Wednesday, Narbonne proved better on all counts, besides the direct points from a serve (seven to four aces for Halkbank. To Rafael Rodrigues de Araujo’s credit, he scored all four aces for Narbonne, each one of them in a deciding moment, making it difficult for Halkbank’s reception). In attacking and on blocking, the French controlled the game completely (finishing with as many as 70 winning spikes and 17 kill blocks to 53 attacks and 11 blocks by their opponents respectively).

Narbonne’s setter, Nicolas Uriarte was named MVP of the game, while his teammate Remi Bassereau topped the charts with 26 points to his name. For Halkbank, Nicolas Bruno was the best with 18 points.