By Bev Oden

The FloVolleyball Olympics Rankings will count down to the start of the indoor volleyball competition in Rio by highlighting one team per gender each day. Today, one week before the first serve, we profile the No. 7-ranked France men and Italy women.

COUNTRY: France

TOP PLAYERS

Antonin Rouzier, Outside Hitter
Second-best scorer and third-best hitter in final round of World League

Benjamin Toniutti, Setter
Second-best setter in final round of World League

Jenia Grebennikov, Libero
Best digger in final round of World League

RISING STAR TO WATCH

Earvin Ngapeth | 25 | OH
Ninth-best scorer in World League Final Round

SYNOPSIS

France enters its fourth Olympic Games never having finished higher than eighth. All that could change in Rio. After a 12-year absence from the the Olympics, France is back and the team is on fire. An improbable World League gold medal in 2015 and a bronze medal in this year's tournament showed that the success of the French is no fluke.

France did not qualify for Rio at the first opportunity, however. It lost to Russia in the European qualifer but earned its spot in Rio with a third-place finish at the World Olympic Qualifier in June.

Outside hitters Antonin Rouzier and Earvin Ngapeth lead the way for the French but the team also has two huge middles to balance the offense and a setter that can do it all. The French team's big recent wins include victories over some of the best teams in the World: Brazil, Poland and Russia. Even the four-set loss to Brazil in this year's World League semifinals was all-out war. The French have shown they can spar with the best, and their confidence grows with every major tournament.

PREDICTION

France is the dark horse candidate to win the bronze medal in Rio. It has the personnel, the momentum and the presence of mind to beat all teams in this tournament with no exceptions. If the team can come out of its pool in third place by beating Mexico, Canada and Italy, it could upset the second-place team it will be matched with in the quarterfinals, probably Poland or Russia. If the French can reproduce their World League level of play, they could end up in the gold-medal match, but no one should be surprised if they leave Brazil with a bronze.

FloVolleyball Men's 2016 Olympics Rankings

12. Mexico

Edit

11. Egypt

10. Cuba

9. Canada

8. Argentina

7. France