The two clubs that score the same number of points (10) after six championship days are both aiming for the first eight qualifying places in the play-offs. This Sunday (15:00), the two teams face off at the Arena. “A particularly important part”, for the general manager of the Centurions, Michel Mandrou.
In six league games, Narbonne Volley has already lost twice in its hall, the second day against Tourcoing (2-3) and the fifth day, last week against Tours (0-3). So, on Sunday 6 November, against Nantes-Rezé, the Centurions will want to return to the Arena right away. And it won’t be an easy task. Nantes have started the championship well: four wins, at home against Paris (3-0) and Cambrais (3-2), and away against Nice (1-3) and Poitiers (2-3), for two defeats at Sète (3-1) and in the room against Montpellier (1-3) last week. They are sixth in the League A championship with 10 units. Narbonne (7th) is close behind with the same number of points (Montpellier is 4th with 12 points and one game more).
Although Guillermo Falasca’s men lost one game more than Nantes, they always won with two sets of difference (in Poitiers 1-3, against Plessis-Robinson at Arena 3-0, in Toulouse 1-3) and lost in a 2-3 recovery at home (Read above), thus recovering a point. If he lost 1-3 to Chaumont on 21 October, the last match at the Arena therefore ended with this searing disappointment against the 0-3 Tour. Fortunately for the centurions, they have meanwhile raised their heads in Haute-Garonne. With a Willner Rivas (27 points) from the big days and a Lucas Vettori (20 points) – designated MVP – very fit.
The top 4, we don’t look at it
In the last two seasons, in Ligue A, the oppositions between Audois and Nantes have always gone to the advantage of the former. The Centurions have beaten the men of the Loire-Atlantique four times: once 3-1 at home and three times 3-0. For the director general of the Centurions, Michel Mandrou, “This part against a direct competitor is particularly important. Like Narbonne, Nantes aims between 5th and 8th place. We have the same goal in this championship. remain in this top 8. After Toulouse, we want to chain the second consecutive victory and above all return to victory at the Arena “.
After his major ankle sprain contracted on 29 October against Tours, Jordi Ramon Ferragut will still be out for a fortnight. The staff don’t want to take any chances with him. Shot in the shoulder in Toulouse, Quentin Jouffroy is uncertain and this Saturday he had to rehearse to make a decision. As for the bubbly Willner Rivas, he too suffered from a shoulder after the meeting in the Haute-Garonne … You can understand why given his performance. “These are normal little sores at this level of performance”, underlines Michel Mandrou. Not too much to worry about for the Venezuelan.
