TIF Viking – Randaberg 22.03.2025

The 2024-2025 league game is now complete, and we congratulate Koll on their victory as league champion for the second year in a row in the Mizuno League. This weekend, the quarterfinals of the playoffs will be played, where the teams will fight for a place in the big "final four" weekend that will take place next weekend, March 28-29. The two quarterfinals on the program are BK Tromsø – NTNUI in Tromsøhallen, and TIF Viking – Randaberg in Åsane Arena. The teams met in a best-of-two series, so we will have a match on both Saturday and Sunday. Here we take a closer look at the match between TIF Viking and Randaberg.

TIF Viking – Disappointing third place

TIF Viking finished in a disappointing third place in this year's Mizuno League with 30 points. They ended up only two points behind second place after losing 2-3 to Førde in the last round of the series. This result must have been very frustrating for TIF Viking, as the team has had a solid season with only five losses in the series, and they had control of second place in the last few league matches. One of the team's key players, Eirik Bjelland, has delivered 13.6 points per game throughout the season.

The losses in the league for TIF Viking have come against the league champions Koll (both home and away), Førde (home and away) and on an away trip to BK Tromsø.

Randaberg – The sinking ship survived

Before the penultimate round of the league three weeks ago, Randaberg was in the relegation zone and had to win against both Lierne and NTNUI to secure a place in the playoffs. Randaberg won both games, 3-0 against Lierne and 3-1 against NTNUI. The team's key player, Håvard Aaresstad, stood out when the team needed him most, with 7 points against Lierne and a whopping 16 points against NTNUI. Throughout the season, Håvard Aaresstad has picked up 11.2 points per game.

It is also worth noting that Randaberg, in their away match against Lierne and NTNUI three weeks ago, adjusted their starting six and implemented a two-man system with Gøran Rønneberg and Stanislav Zajaczkowski. It will be interesting to see if Randaberg continues to use this system this weekend.

Conclusion

TIF Viking enter the quarterfinals at home against Randaberg on Saturday and Sunday as big favorites. History supports this, considering the last three meetings between the teams (see table), and Randaberg was not far from having to play relegation qualification instead of the playoffs. The team ratings also show why TIF Viking are favorites in the match, with a rating of 3-0 in the positions. TIF Viking has better quality in both setter and winger than Randaberg. Setter and winger are the two most central roles on the volleyball court, and much can be achieved with quality in these positions.

But does Randaberg have an ace up their sleeve with their two-player system? This is something that is rarely seen at the elite level. The advantage for Randaberg with the two-player system is that they always have three attackers in front of the net, which means that TIF Viking cannot prioritize who to block as much, as they always have to deal with three attackers in front.

This two-player system could make the volleyball match more exciting than initially thought, as long as Randaberg chooses to use the system.

I think the match will play out depending on how TIF Viking meets Randaberg's two-set system. TIF Viking has enough quality in the team to handle this system, but are they mentally prepared for this match against Randaberg? I think this two-set system of Randaberg means that they will at least take a set in the match, therefore we take Randaberg +2.5 handicap.

Volleyball at 15:00: TIF Viking – Randaberg: Randaberg +2.5 handicap (2.00)

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