For their last home game of the season, Nice Volleyball suffered another defeat, 3-0 (26-28; 23-25; 23-25), against a strong Tours team coached by Hubert Henno. Ratko Peris’s players might have some regrets, as they managed to hold their own against their opponents during the first two sets.
No feat for Nice Volleyball tonight, who faced a more pragmatic team from Tours. The race to remain in Ligue A is more than ever engaged for the Eagles. With such a wide final score, but not as much in detail, the Niçois could very well have reversed the outcome and potentially won the match.
Andric and Clère in Defense Mode
The start of the match is spectacular. After only a few balls played, video assistance had to intervene twice at the beginning of the game. The Niçois are eager tonight and intend to make themselves heard (4-3; 7-6; 10-8). The rest of the match is characterized by a series of errors and bad serves from both the Nice and Tours sides (12-12; 14-14; 16-16). Winning blocks by Hector Salerno and the hits from Leo Andric keep their team close on the scoreboard to their opponents (19-19; 22-20; 24-24). Ultimately, Tours wins 28-26 in this breathless first set.
The captain, Jérôme Clère, was also imperial in the game. Scoring 11 points during the match, his blocks and hits allow the Nice team to still believe in victory (2-3; 7-6; 11-8). However, small technical errors disrupt the Niçois in their play, as they seemed to hold on to this second set. Leo Andric misses his serve, and Tours catches up to Nice (14-13; 17-17; 19-20). A new series of errors from both sides makes the game tense. Nice concedes a second set after leaving too many points on the table (23-25).
Tours More Decisive
On the other side, the Tours team performs better. Solid in defense, aggressive in attack, the Azuréens struggle to stem the visitors’ offensives but still hold firm (3-3; 7-7; 9-10). Once again, Jérôme Clère sets the example and manages to block the fast balls from Tours. After dominating Cambrai at home last week (3-0), it’s Nice Volleyball who finds themselves in this situation. With two sets down, the task seems insurmountable for Ratko Peris and his men, who eventually succumb 23-25 in this third set.
Post-Match Reactions
Nice’s 3-0 defeat at home against Tours marks the 20th setback in 25 games played for Nice Volleyball, who have yet to secure their spot to remain in Ligue A for the next season. For reactions, the coach and players seem to be on the same page.
Jérôme Clère: “We will take the positives from this difficult season. Tonight, we can blame ourselves. We weren’t sharp, we lacked a defensive and aggressive block, now we need to fix this against Poitiers.”
Jelle Ribbens: “We gave them the match. We had it, we had the ball, and we missed too many chances that cost us dearly at the end. The match could have been in our favor if we had known how to win the first two, but we are responsible for this defeat. We are at fault, we had control of the match and we gave it away.”
Ratko Peris: “It’s quite frustrating to lose by so little because the team fought well, but we’re paying dearly for the small details. We need to handle balls in attack better, we gave away too much in the first two sets.” explains the Nice Volleyball coach, reflecting on a difficult and quite peculiar season with the impacts of Covid-19.
For their last official match of the season, Nice will travel to Poitiers next weekend to definitively secure their place in the league.
