This 11th day of the Marmara Spike League was an opportunity for NVB to test itself against a major team in the championship, Tourcoing.
On a bad streak for a week now, Nice Volley Ball had to respond tonight. It wasn’t easy just before facing the leader of the Marmara Spike League who was themselves on a run of six consecutive victories. A big challenge then for the Eagles, who have only defeated their opponents at home once in the past eight years.
The start of the match was quite good for NVB. Competitive on the first points, the Azuréens were holding their own against the Northerners. Rodney Ah-Kong and Aléxandros Raptis stood out. The score remained close until the middle of the first set. Tourcoing accelerated taking advantage of two service errors by the visitors. The lead was established and would not be closed afterward. Tourcoing won the first set (25-21) with yet another service error (the 7th) from the Eagles.
The second set started with the same rhythm as the previous one. But this time, the attackers were well contained on both sides. The blocks were working well, and Simon Hirsch stood out. Despite this, Nice experienced a difficult phase. At (7-5), Brice Donat’s men did not score on the next ten serves. Only opponent errors allowed them to limit the damage on the score. This didn’t stop the gap from increasing to +5 and continuing to grow. The hosts also took the second set (25-19).
The score was hard to swallow but not illogical. Tourcoing continued their onslaught in attack. Completely overwhelmed and without a solution, the Maralpins fell behind at the start of the third set. Except by leading with little difficulty, the locals stumbled. Through a series of errors, they allowed NVB to catch up and even take the lead. A potential opening in the Tourquennois fortress then seemed possible. But the championship leaders didn’t let their lead slip away and regained control. With Simon Hirsch at the helm, Nice believed for a long time they could hold onto the score. Until the end of the set. In the money-time, the northerners deprived the southerners of the ball.
Ultimately, logic prevailed and the victory went to Tourcoing (25-21/25-19/25-20) who strengthened their position as leaders of the Marmara Spike League. The team from Nice, less in form, suffered their third consecutive defeat. In the standings, they dropped to 6th place before heading to Chaumont next weekend.
