Zrenjanin, Serbia, September 24, 2011 – Poland started the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women with a great victory over Israel 3-0 (25-23, 25-7, 25-15) in Crystal Hall in Zrenjanin in front of 600 spectators. 

Best scorers of the Polish team were Katarzyna Skowronska with 14 and Klaudia Kaczorowska with 11 points, while Anna Velikiy earned 11 for Israel. 

In the beginning of the first pool C match in Zrenjanin, Israel and Poland showed great volleyball with a tied result until the second technical timeout. Poland took the lead right after it (18-15). Israel managed to reduce the advantage Poland had (23-22), which made the finish of the set doubtful. Poland had two set points (24-22) and they used the second one for the definite 25-23 and a 1-0 set lead. 

Poland came with force at the start of the second set and gained a huge advantage. The best illustration of what was happening on the court was the result at the second break, 16-2 for Poland. The Polish girls were determined, letting the Israeli girls gain only seven points in total in the second set, getting their momentum for 2-0 in sets. 

The domination of Poland continued in the third set from the very beginning, so it was obvious that this match would only last three sets. The Polish team showed a higher quality of play, allowing the Israeli team to score only 15 points for a first Polish win in Pool C in Zrenjanin. 

Israel captain Tatjana Frage–Gerber: “Congrats to Poland’s team for this great match. I think we lack of experience for this competition, we were uncertain in our skills. In the second set we made a lot of mistakes, the receptions and blocks were not as good as we thought they will be, so we couldn’t come back into the game. Still, we will prepare for the second match versus Romania, and we hope we’ll do better.” 

Poland captain Maria Milena Radecka: “We are very pleased for winning this match; this victory is of extreme importance, as this was the first match we played in this championship. In the first set we were a bit nervous, but the second set we played very well, especially our serves were good and strong; I think that was the reason we won the match.” 

Israel head coach Arie Selinger: “Obviously, there is a big difference between Poland and Israel, we are aware of the possibility for Poland to win the championship. We were surprised when we got close in the first set, we played well in that set, but the difference showed up in the second set, we couldn’t follow the pace.” 

Poland head coach Alojzy Swiderek: “This was the beginning of the tournament, so the first set saw us a bit tense and nervous; later on, we had to make a breakthrough and played normal. We will make some changes in the team, we want all the players to play, and we will see how it will go.”