Lausanne, Switzerland, June 15, 2017 – France’s setter Benjamin Toniutti has been instrumental to his team’s success in recent years, including the current unbeaten run in the 2017 FIVB Volleyball World League. His magic fingers have given more and more reasons for everybody to ask the question – is Toniutti the world’s best setter?
And while to many the answer is a clear ‘yes’, Toniutti himself does not seem to think so.
“I really don’t think that I am the best setter in the world. There are a lot of really good setters,” he said humbly after his team mastered their sixth consecutive win since the start of the 2017 World League, a 3-1 home victory over USA.
Of course, Toniutti is also blessed with an impressive line-up of talented spikers on the team he is captaining and they complement his setting skills to fascinating perfection. As a true leader, he knows that and admits that.
“For me the speciality of the setter is to give the best set for every spiker, and I try to do that. It is really easy to do it with this team, because this team is amazing. There is a lot of big talent,” Toniutti said. “We just play, we have fun on the court and, in the end, it is working for the moment.”
It takes a good one to spot good one. Toniutti has no problem recognising the qualities of his competition and had good things to say about his US counterpart Micah Christenson, whom he credited for the difficulties the French blockers had against the Americans.
“They put a lot of pressure on us with their serves, but it was also a problem for them, because they risked a lot and made a lot of mistakes,” Toniutti analyzed the match. “They have a really good block. We did not block a lot, because they have a really good setter. So it was a tough game, but in the end we won.”
The French captain did not forget to thank the home fans in Pau and give them credit for the ambience they created during the matches. “It is a nice feeling to win three games at home, in this amazing atmosphere,” Toniutti exclaimed.