7 Mar 2024
NVL preview (9th and 10th March): Blaze eye Division 1 title
The Chelmsford-based club are already seven points clear at the top, so victory over one of their closest rivals would extend that advantage to an unassailable 10, ahead of the main players all having three games remaining.
Should the Aces come out on top, it would keep alive remote hopes of catching the Blaze, but the Eastern club would still have further opportunities to seal top spot.
A win for the Londoners would, however, boost their chances of clinching the play-off spot for finishing in second place.
Second-place London Giants are also in action as they visit Cambridge ARU, while the final Saturday fixture sees Coventry and Warwick Riga and Weymouth Beach go head to head.
On Sunday, an all-West Midlands affair will pitch Tamworth Spartans against a Black Country side bidding to boost their own hopes of securing a play-off spot.
All the top four are in action in a highly-competitive Division 2 North, as Darkstar Derbyshire (first) host nearby Sheffield (third) with just a point separating them having played the same number of games.
Hull Thunder (second) could end the weekend on top if they beat Liverpool and results go their way.
Hounslow can put themselves seven points clear at the top of Division 2 Central if they can overcome Cambridge at the North Cambridge Academy on Sunday.
Newmarket could move up to second, albeit having played two more games than London Baks, if they triumph at Dartford Crossers.
A Bristol derby between Bristol and City of Bristol will see the former looking to consolidate their place at the top of the Division 2 South table, having beaten their closest challengers, Exeter Storm last week.
Spelthorne Lions can strengthen their grip on third spot should they prevail against bottom team Guildford International.
Something has to give in the Friday night Division 3 North West game between Liverpool U18 and Manchester Marvels Mavericks, where both sides are seeking a first victory of the season.
That precedes a Mancunian triangular fixture on Sunday as leaders Manchester Moss Side need wins to keep up their hopes of holding on to top spot – having played and lost more than some of their rivals – as they take on InterVolley Manchester and Urmston Grammar.
Two triangular fixtures will be contested in Division 3 North, with both containing a team in the top two.
Leaders Kings of Court Boston look to have the easier task as they face Wombourne and Nottingham Rockets.
Second-placed York Vikings, meanwhile, go up against fourth-placed Black Country 2 – who, with games in hand, could still mount their own title bid – and Sheffield.
What could be a pivotal fixture takes place in Division 3 South East as Northampton (top) take on Rhinos Cambridge (second) as part of a triangular fixture that also includes Leicester.
With games running out and just two points currently separating them, the winners will fancy their chances of going on to finish as champions.
Onyx, GNG Bedford and Tendring will also vie for supremacy, looking to improve on their respective current positions of fifth, sixth and seventh.
Leaders Southampton, who have lost only once, will hope to push their Division 3 South West title claims when they play Weymouth Waves and Cardiff Panthers in a triangular fixture.
In Women’s Division 1, Stockport and Wessex, neck and neck at the top, both have home games this weekend as they welcome strugglers MK City and Dartford Chargers respectively on Saturday.
The latter two teams may hold out more hope for their Sunday matches when the Buckinghamshire side visit Everton Belugas and the Kent club host Southampton.
The division’s other match, on Saturday, pairs National Shield finalists Leicester Athena with Bristol.
Team Sunderland have dropped just one set in staying unbeaten so far in Division 2 North, but they have what is likely to be one of their toughest assignments of the season so far when they visit third-placed Manchester Marvels Mayhem (pictured above).
Also scheduled for Sunday is the mid-table clash between Everton Narwhals and Tamworth Spartans.
The top four teams – separated by just four points – are in action over an important weekend in Division 2 Central.
The pick of the fixtures is the first versus third clash as leaders Herts visit Oxford Eagles on Sunday.
Before that, on Saturday, second-placed Essex Trinity can ramp up the pressure when they host Loughborough Students, while fourth-placed Northampton visit a bottom-of-the-table Coventry and Riga 2 side.
There is just one match in Division 2 South and it will see Sussex Dolphins bid to pull themselves away from relegation trouble when they host an Ashcombe Dorking team who are already consigned to the drop.
After coming through their toughest test of the season last weekend to beat Manchester Liberators 3-2, The Miners Doncaster look to round off the season with a 100% Division 3 North record in their Sunday fixture against Liverpool.
It would be hard to bet against the South Yorkshire side achieving that goal as their Merseyside opponents are struggling at the wrong end of the table.
After a recent break, the fight resumes for top spot in a keenly-contested Division 3 South West title race, with two triangular fixtures on Sunday.
Leaders Cheltenham and Gloucester take on Urbond Portsmouth and Southampton 2 (who are third), while Plymouth UTV, just a point behind in second, are in action against City of Bristol and Plymouth.
For all the fixtures across the country click here.
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