Volleyball: Nice Volley-Ball misses the boat in Ajaccio

For the penultimate match of the Marmara SpikeLigue regular season, Nice Volley-Ball traveled to Corsica to face Ajaccio. A match that ended with a victory for GFCA in the late hours (3-2).

In a match that counted towards securing a playoff spot, Nice Volley-Ball was away at the Palatin in Ajaccio. Eighth in Marmara SpikeLigue, the Nice team needed to earn points tonight to avoid finding itself under pressure from Cannes and Paris just one point behind. On the Ajaccio side, GFCA was fighting for survival with Saint-Nazaire. It was imperative to bring something back from this last home match.

And it showed. Ajaccio started the match very well and stood out at the net against Nice’s attackers. NVB was too timid in attack and found itself down 10-5. A gap that the Nice players had great difficulty reducing. The Nice team was not there, exemplified by a point given away by Colin Castelnaud on a soft float serve. Ajaccio’s reception held up, which made NVB’s task very complicated. The Nice team didn’t give up, unlike last week against Paris. Little by little, the Côte d’Azur team chipped away at their deficit thanks in particular to Merrick McHenry, who put together a good serving streak. Back to within one point, NVB believed again when the locals’ reception weakened slightly. Dawid Dulski had the first set point but missed the target. Finally the set went to extra points and Ajaccio’s youth made the difference to take the first set 28-26.

Nice Volley-Ball bounces back

Offended, the Nice team started the second set with guns blazing to lead 0-4. The Ajaccio machine seized up and the momentum of the match reversed. Nice’s attackers did the job to overwhelm the locals right from the start. Titouan Hallé, who arrived at the club last month, distinguished himself to give NVB up to an eleven-point lead in a Palatinu that quieted down point by point. The Maralpins came back to two sets to one: 12-25.

Nice didn’t lose momentum and got back into the match. The second set was much more competitive, with the Nice team re-mobilized. Both teams picked up the pace and traded blows. Late in the set, Ajaccio accelerated to make a mini-break. Two good serves by Dawid Dulski brought Nice back into the game. But in the money-time, carried by their crowd, GFCA managed to regain a decisive margin that put Nice out of reach. Ajaccio won the second set 25-21 and earned a point allowing the club to continue hoping for survival.

Ajaccio was struggling in a match that had declined in quality. Nice was back in the lead in the fourth set and rolled out their volleyball. The locals tried to change things after another timeout but the momentum was Nice’s. As if the objective had been achieved thanks to the two sets won previously. Despite a technical break of a few minutes due to a lighting failure and a good run by the Ajaccians who came back to within two points thanks in part to Daniel Bala, Nice came back to 2-2 sets: 21-25.

In a hall awakened by an approximation by the refereeing crew against the locals, the fifth set was very tight. Ajaccio, highly motivated, turned to their Brazilian attacker Daniel Bala, returning from injury. In a tense finale, it was ultimately GFCA that prevailed (28-26/25-22/12-25/21-25/15-13) on a final action and secured an option for survival.

The Eagles didn’t leave empty-handed and maintain a two-point advantage over their direct competitors for the last playoff spot. However, they will need to get a result at home next Saturday (8 p.m.) against Chaumont who have nothing left to play for.