Jean Patry flexes muscle as Olympic champ France blanks South Korea at FIVB Worlds

Jean Patry displayed his dominance to steer powerhouse France to a commanding 25-12, 25-18, 25-16 sweep of South Korea in the 2025 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The star opposite hitter was unstoppable throughout the match, finishing with a team-high 16 points built on 11 attacks, three aces, and two blocks, as back-to-back Olympic gold medalist France cruised to a 1-0 start in Pool C.

Patry had plenty of support, with Trevor Clevenot contributing nine points and Nicolas Le Goff adding eight, as the French dismantled the Koreans in just 62 minutes.

“I think we played a good game against a good team. We played good volleyball—defense and receptions—and we just focused on the game. That’s the most important,” Clevenot said.

Clevenot caught fire in Set 3, scoring back-to-back points to stretch their lead to 10-6. Longtime setter Antoine Brizard followed with two consecutive aces to push the cushion to 17-11 for the Olympic champions.

Patry then hammered one from the left wing before middle blocker Barthélémy Chinenyeze put the roof on Park Changseong to extend France’s lead to 19-12.

Yacine Louati brought world No. 4 France to match point, and Théo Faure sealed the victory with a final attack.

Heo Subong led Korea with nine points, while Im Donghyeok added seven markers.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News