It is hard for an athlete to stand out in a team of superstars, but for reigning Olympic and Volleyball Nations League champions France, Trevor Clevenot is the linchpin that holds everything together.

The 29-year-old outside hitter may not have the pizzazz of Jenia Grebennikov, the flair of Earvin Ngapeth or the dominance of Jean Patry, but he is a solid player that puts premium defense, displays effective offense and never gives anything less than his best whenever he enters the court.

Trevor was born in Royan, a seaside resort town in southwest of France. Volleyball was an integral part of his upbringing because of his father Alain, a French international in the 80s, who instilled in his son the love for the game. Therefore, Trevor grew up with an excellent formative experience that helped shaped his career on the court.

He won his first international medal in 2011, when France finished second behind Serbia in the Boys’ Youth Volleyball European Championship in Turkey. In 2013, he returned to Turkey for the Mediterranean Games, where he helped France clinch bronze.

Two years later, Trevor and Team France collected three World League medals – gold in 2015 and 2017 and bronze in 2016.

In the succeeding seasons, France staked its claim as a powerhouse squad, winning bronze at the 2021 VNL and successive gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the 2022 VNL, with Trevor doing his part to support his teammates. He got rewarded for his efforts when he was named to the 2022 VNL Dream Team as Best Outside Hitter.

He is putting great effort and finding some success, just not in the most noticeable corners. And he has been stealthily helping his teammates achieve excellence, which has proven valuable up to this stage.

At club level, he started his professional career in Toulouse, where he spent four seasons playing between 2012 and 2016 and was named Best Receiver in the French Championship in 2015. He then spent five seasons in Italy, playing for clubs in Piacenza and Milan.

His latest club stint was at Jastrzebski Wegiel, where he won consecutive Polish Super Cups (2023 and 2023) and one Polish Championship title this season, together with his compatriots Benjamin Toniutti and Stephen Boyer.

Watching how brilliantly Trevor stood out, not as a superstar but as team player, makes him a better asset in the team. And this is his way of writing his own success story and being an inspiration for many.

Catch Trevor and his teammates as they make their final push to get into the Final 8, when they play in Anaheim in the United States. France will first play against Iran on July 4 at 16:30 local time (23:30 UTC), then will meet Serbia on July 7 at 13:30 (22:30 UTC), hosts USA on July 8 at 22:30 (05:30 UTC next day) and Germany on July 9 at 17:00 (00:00 UTC next day).