MATCH STATS

There was always going to be just one outcome in front of the kind of crowd that came out to South Paris Arena, and it turned up blue. The men's volleyball tournament concluded Saturday in Paris as the French cruised to an incredible three-set win over Poland — the top-ranked team in the world — to earn the country's second straight Olympic gold medal.

Poland had no answers for a team that was feeding off a crowd that has been incredible all tournament long. The crowd reached its crescendo in the biggest game. As good as Poland is, there was nothing it could do to stop the speakers inside the arena from blasting Les Marsaillas to cap off the Olympic volleyball tournament. 

After winning in front of an empty arena in Tokyo, France won at home in Paris in front of one of the best crowds Olympic volleyball has ever seen. 

So much was on the line Saturday as France and Poland faced off. France was looking to become the first country since the United States in 1984 and 1988 to repeat as gold medalists in men's volleyball, and in front of their home crowd, no less. Poland, meanwhile, had not won a medal since taking gold in 1976, and had lost in the quarterfinal at each of the last five Olympics. 

In those five Olympic cycles, Poland took home two world championship titles, but just could not replicate that success on the Olympic stage. Finally, this year in Paris, the Polish got past the quarterfinals. And after a crazy win in the semis, who was waiting for them once they reached the final? The team that ended their Olympic run in Tokyo — France.

There was nothing to separate these teams early in the first set, but France slowly began to open up a gap. In the middle part of the set, the French offense got rolling and pulled to a comfortable 16-11 margin.

It was obvious France was feeding off the home crowd as their offense was just relentless in attack. France started 10 for its first 12 and lead by as many as six at 17-11. 

Poland did not play like the top-ranked team in the world in the first set with 10 toal errors, seven service errors. Poland did not block a single shot and France was nearly perfect, going 14/16 on attacks with no balls hit out of bounds. It all added up to a dominant 25-19 France win.

So where would Poland turn when it was in trouble? The only answer was Wilfredo Leon, the team's superstar. The only problem was he only managed to attempt seven swings through two sets. He killed off four of them and had five points, but Poland was simply not finding its main man enough. 

Things were back-and-forth until France once again got rolling late and took over. The French crowd was unbelievable and it was obvious how much the players were feeding off it. It was also clear how affected the Polish players were, especially once frustration started building in the later stages of the set.

It was all too much for Poland, and France took the big lead late to win 25-20. The star of the second set was Antoine Brizard, who had four points on a kill and three blocks. After no blocks in the first set, Brizard's blocking prowess was needed to shut down the Polish offense and he delivered. 

Offensively, the star was Trevor Clevenot, who was outshining fellow his fellow outside hitter, Earvin Ngapeth, with seven points on 6/7 swings and an ace.

With each point that France got closer to the gold, the energy inside the arena ratcheted higher and higher.

Every time it seemed Poland appeared to get back into the game, France had a response to take the lead right back. The night belonged to France, which played a complete match en route to a second consecutive gold medal. 

Poland led in the third, but France came back for a late advantage and rode the blue wave of the crowd home to victory. 

Leon did everything he could, as Poland saved three match points with him at the service line and four total. In the end, he missed on the fifth match point and France emerged as the first repeat champions since the United States in 1984 and 1988.