26/09/2011 22:23
Poland claim first place in Pool C
2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship - Women
Zrenjanin, Serbia, September 26, 2011 – After the last match of Pool C at the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship – Women, Poland enrolled yet another victory for the impeccable score of 3-0, defeating the Romanian team in straight sets (27-25, 25-18, 25-22) in Crystal Hall in Zrenjanin..
Anita Kwiatkowska booked 14 points for Poland, while Daiana Georgiana Muresan scored nine for Romania. The match was attended by Dr. Mileta Mihajlov, Mayor of the city of Zrenjanin.
There was nothing to separate Poland and Romania at the end of the first set. The Polish girls scored four consecutive points to take a comfortable 24-20 lead, but Darko Zakoc’s team fired back with a 5-0 point series. However, the experience of the Polish girls was of utmost importance, since they turned the tables with another three points in a row to finish the first set 27-25 in their favor.
After this shock, the Romanian girls suffered psychologically, while the Polish team used the turnaround to increase the advantage, thus quite easily sealing to a 2-0 lead.
As the third set began, an equivalent fight between the two teams showed up. Romania led 21-20 and 22-21; however, the more experienced Pols kept cool, closing out the set 25-22, and the match 3-0.
Poland head coach Alojzy Swiderek: “This victory is very important for us. I’m happy I had a chance to use all the players in this match. The result and our performance tonight are very satisfying and I’m very happy for our team. I think we do have room for improvement, so I’m sure we will prepare ourselves better for the next match.”
Poland captain Maria Milena Radecka: “We are very happy that we secured the first place in our pool. I’m glad that, during this match, our coach had the possibilities to observe and analyze all the players. Now, we have to concentrate on our next match, to win it; it’s our main target now.”
Romania head coach Darko Zakoc: “My goal was to win tonight, but sometimes it doesn’t go the way we plan it. My deepest congratulations to the team of Poland, they put up their best performance and confirmed their first place. I wish them good luck in the quarterfinals. We also performed well, but it wasn’t enough to win. We made a lot of mistakes tonight. We will focus on the play-off match, hopefully against Germany.”
Romania captain Elena Butnaru: “Congratulations to the Polish team. I think we started this match well; we played strong, but at the end – it was not enough to win tonight. It was obvious Poland will win the match.”
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