In the highlight match of the 21st day, Nice triumphed three sets to zero against Tourcoing. Thanks to this victory, the Niçois are in second place pending today’s matches.
Monstrous at home, catastrophic away. That could be the summary of the Niçois’ season so far. After a 3-0 defeat in Harnes last week, Nice responded perfectly by seriously overcoming Tourcoing.
In a particularly balanced and high-level match, it was the first set that set the Niçois players, led by Mladen Kasic, on the right track. With a very serious start, the Niçois quickly pulled away to lead 9-2. As they gradually increased their pace, they managed this lead perfectly and won the first set 25-16 in 24 minutes.
But the tone was already set with intensity and very beautiful rallies. One could feel from this set the desire of both teams to entertain a particularly packed Giamarchi venue.
We especially saw a strong Nice at blocking (7 counter points in this first set for a total of 12 in the whole match), which hindered Tourcoing’s efforts. The second and third sets mirrored each other closely, providing great entertainment for the spectators.
Omnipresent in front of their audience, the Niçois remained very serious against the Northerners, who were very disciplined and made their strengths known. In the second set, neither team really forced the decision, as they neutralized each other until 21-21. Eventually, leading 24-22 and after two set points, Nice won it 25-23 in 26 minutes.
In the third set, the crowd played its role as the seventh man by cheering on their favorites. And after a very tightly contested set, the first set point was the right one. With a clever play by setter Raphael Corre, the Niçois won 25-21 after 1 hour and 14 minutes of battle.
A victory partly due to the 16 points from Ciprian Matei and the 15 from Aleksandar Mitrovic. The next appointment for NVB is next Saturday at 8 p.m. against Martigues.
