France: Round 20 continues – 3 points for Tours (who back to the top!) and Narbonne. Another ko for Plessis Robinson

After the advance played yesterday, in which Montpellier won derby on the field of Sète in straight sets to back to the top of the standings for a night as leaders, Round 20 of 2025/26 MARMARA Spike League continued today with other two games, in which both winners earned three points.
Tours regain the leadership after just one night celebrating a 0-3 (17:25, 20:25, 35:37) win on the field of Nice, also putting an end to the rivals’ home winning streak which lasted five games.
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
After suffering their first defeat of the season in the Marmara SpikeLigue three days earlier in Grenon, Tours responded perfectly, dominating first set quickly taking the lead, to close it with an eight-point advantage and with impressive statistics (85% reception success rate, 78% attack success rate) and a standout performance from Niko Suihkonen with seven points only in this set.
The second set followed the same pattern. Solid in blocking and defense, and more than aggressive from the serve’s line, the Tours players put Nice’s reception under pressure, limiting them to a mere 35% success rate. Nice also struggled in attack (33% of team performance), allowing the rivals to take a two-set lead.
The third set, however, was the most contested. For the first time in the match, Nice took the lead at 10-9 with an attack by Titouan Hallé, on the field instead of Shay Liberman, along with the young setter Pépin Rajoharivelo, who had already appeared in the second set and started in the third. Fighting hard, hosts fought until the final minutes, but eventually Tours ultimately prevailed 37-35 thanks to a great Suihkonen (16 points in total through 56% in attack and 1 block), the efficiency of Leandry Kavogo (14 points, 52% in attack and 2 blocks), and bomber Nik Mujanovic, top scorer of the match with 19 points to his name, while libero Luca Ramon earned MVP honors.
For Nice, this defeat ends a strong home run in the midst of a particularly challenging schedule. In fact, after facing Montpellier and Tours, they will travel to Tourcoing before hosting Saint-Nazaire in Round 22.
Interestingly, the last win of Nice over Tours was on November 18, 2016!
Meanwhile, Narbonne inflicted to Plessis-Robinson 5th defeat in a row, winning the home game with the score of 3-1 (25:18, 19:25, 25:19, 25:22).
After dominating first set and losing the second, the home team, despite the absences of Touré, Rivas and Thoral, won the game without major problems mostly thanks to an impressive Michael Czerwinski, absolute top scorer of the match with as many as 30 points to his name through 60% in attack, 1 ace, 1 block and a well-deserved MVP awards, finally ended their losing streak that lasted 5 games.
Round 20 will continue tomorrow with other three games: Toulouse will welcome Chaumont, meanwhile Poitiers will face Paris, and newcomers and last-placed Ajaccio will welcome St-Nazaire in a direct clash for relegation race.

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🏐| MARMARA SPIKE LEAGUE 2025/26 | JOURNÉE 20 | Round 20

Thursday February 5, 2026
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Sète – Montpellier 0-3 (22:25, 19:25, 27:29)

👉🏼Friday February 6, 2026
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Narbonne – Plessis-Robinson 3-1 (25:18, 19:25, 25:19, 25:22)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Nice – Tours 0-3 (17:25, 20:25, 35:37)
| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH

Saturday February 7, 2026
• 18.00 (Local Time) | Toulouse – Chaumont 3-1 (22:25, 25:18, 25:20, 25:21)
• 19.00 (Local Time) | Poitiers – Paris 3-0 (25:19, 25:18, 25:19)
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Ajaccio – St-Nazaire 3-2 (25:22, 19:25, 25:20, 24:26, 19:17)

Sunday February 8, 2026
• 17.00 (Local Time) | Cannes – Tourcoing 3-2 (24:26, 19:25, 25:21, 25:23, 15:12)

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🏐| STANDINGS (updated on this day):
1. Tours 51
2. Montpellier 48
3. Tourcoing 42
4. Poitiers 33
5. Plessis Robinson 29
6. Sète 29
7. Nice 29
8. Toulouse 28
9. Cannes 24
10. Narbonne 22
11. Paris 19
12. Chaumont 19
13. Saint Nazaire 18
14. Ajaccio 14 (-3 penalty).

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🏐| NEXT GAMES | JOURNÉE 21 | Round 21

Thursday February 12, 2026
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Paris – Cannes

Friday February 13, 2026
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Tourcoing – Nice

Saturday February 14, 2026
• 18.30 (Local Time) | Montpellier – Poitiers
• 19.00 (Local Time) | Chaumont – Narbonne
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Ajaccio – Toulouse
• 20.00 (Local Time) | St-Nazaire – Sète
• 20.00 (Local Time) | Tours – Plessis-Robinson

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