Nice Volley Ball will begin their playoffs this Friday with the reception of Nancy at 8 PM in the quarter-finals. Second in the regular season, Nice has a good chance of accessing the Ligue A for the 2014-2015 season.
By winning three sets to one at Orange (3rd in the regular season) last Wednesday, NVB delivered a double blow. They maintained their second place and secured their second consecutive away victory. A not-so-trivial statistic when considering that in their first eleven away games, Mladen Kasic’s men only managed two wins.
They have now doubled that total in their last two outings. Their second place is largely due to an almost flawless home run. In their Giammarchi hall, they have indeed collected 38 points out of a possible 39.
Everything is in place for the Niçois to approach this quarter-final calmly, as captain Rémy Kraska confides: “We are approaching upcoming deadlines quite well, even if we are starting to feel the pressure coming on.” This pressure must remain positive especially since Nancy is among the few away victims of the Niçois.
Confirming the good away series
Kraska’s teammates indeed won 3-0 in Lorraine on the sixth day last September. Tomorrow evening, the Niçois will be favorites against a Nancy team that finished seventh in the regular season.
However, they will approach this match cautiously as Rémy Kraska explains: “We have the home advantage, but the playoffs are not the championship; each match is a final, so to speak.” And the first final should not pose too many problems tomorrow at home. The return match will be a key element in this quarter-final.
For the Niçois, who have shown two faces during their away games, it’s certainly the one displayed at the end of the season that they will need to show. The Niçois captain confirms: “We have had great victories at Cambrai and especially at Orange where we played without Mitrovic (Editor’s Note, 295 points and the top scorer of his team).”
A clear resurgence in form that will need confirmation during a return quarter-final scheduled for Wednesday, April 16. But before that, they will need to assert themselves at home starting tomorrow, where Rémy Kraska reassures everyone: “We are all ready for Friday night.”
