Nice Volley Ball was away at Saint-Nazaire tonight as part of the 9th day of the Marmara Spikeligue. A match that was crucial for both sides.
A duel between low-ranked teams. Tonight, Nice Volley Ball traveled to Loire-Atlantique to face Saint-Nazaire. Second to last in the standings, SNVBA is having a shaky start to the season, much like their opponents for the day. The Eagles are coming off< a href=”https://www.nicepremium.fr/sports/volley/volley-le-derby-azureen-pour-las-cannes/” target=”_blank” data-type=”link” data-id=”https://www.nicepremium.fr/sports/volley/volley-le-derby-azureen-pour-las-cannes/” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>a tough derby against Cannes. However, the Nice team can rely on some interesting away results, like against Paris or Plessis-Robinson last week. The objective was very clear before the meeting: score big points to avoid being left behind in the Marmara Spikeligue standings.
The Azuréens started the game with enthusiasm. The Eagles’ reception held up well at the start of the match. Merrick McHenry was in great shape and tormented the local defense. The gap was notably made on serve. Shay Liberman and Lohan Nack-Minyem caused trouble for the opposing receivers. Despite this, Saint-Nazaire stayed close in the score but gave away too many points to move ahead. The locals even faltered in the money-time of the first set. NVB was very diligent in all sectors of the game, which earned them the first set (25-19).
The Eagles continued at the same pace. Stronger than the locals, the Nice players didn’t hesitate to take the lead. Although the locals came back thanks to a nice service series coupled with great attacks from Filip John, the Maralpins didn’t panic and quickly regained a three-point lead. Brice Donat’s players soared towards winning the second set. Not troubled by the soft balls pushed by the locals and generally more dynamic, the Eagles took the second set (25-20).
Nice Volley Ball completely cracks
In the third set, the locals tried everything they could. Dawid Dulski, once again very strong at the point, nullified all comeback attempts by the Nazairians at the start of the set. But Saint-Nazaire, stung to the quick, didn’t want to let anything go. Kaleb Jennes responded with serves and put his teammates up by 4. The Nice block, very effective in recent matches, was less incisive. Middle blocker Nicolas Burel and opposite Filip John took advantage and made the difference. Brice Donat attempted a move by bringing in his captain Rodney Ah-Kong to try to balance the forces. In vain. Nice defended well and got back into the match. Too late. Saint-Nazaire came back to two sets to one (25-20).
The locals were more involved in the meeting and managed to hold on in this fourth set. Nice was giving away more balls, and the trend reversed. The Nice leaders were marking time physically. Saint-Nazaire rotated their lineup more. Vladimir Garkov blew up the previously imperious Nice reception. Confidence had clearly shifted, and the SNVBA took the lead in the score. Completely overrun, the Nice players were against the wall. Brice Donat finally let his key players rest by removing his main lineup in anticipation of the inevitable arrival of a fifth set (25-16).
A wise choice to allow the starters to refine their gameplay patterns. And it paid off. Nice regained the lead in the final set. The NVB’s attacks were sharper and their reception much more effective. Saint-Nazaire stayed in the game but made more mistakes. The money-time approached, and the momentum was more on the side of the locals, but everything seemed possible. The suspense was at its peak. Neither team relinquished any points. Saint-Nazaire gained two match balls at 14-12 and managed to conclude on the second thanks to a final point from Kaleb Jennes.
Nice let the victory slip away at the last moment (19-25 / 20-25 / 25-20 / 25-16 / 15-13) and may regret it after dominating the beginning of the match.
In the standings, Nice Volley Ball found itself tied in points with the last place team, Chaumont. Saint-Nazaire moved just ahead with the same number of points (9). However, nothing is settled yet in this Marmara Spikeligue as the bottom seven teams are separated by just two points.
The next meeting for the Eagles is this Saturday, December 6 at Palmeira against Ajaccio. Now, they will need to recover well from this series of matches and earn points at home to stay in the competition.
