05/07/2015 19:02
Poland down Denmark to keep perfect record after first round of action
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Slagelse, Denmark, July 5, 2015. The Danish hosts gave Poland a warm welcome in Antvorskovhallen in Slagelse, not only on court where all sets were even until halfway, but also because the temperature in the arena came close to 30 degrees. In the end Poland booked their second straight 3:0 win (25-15, 25-19, 25-16) to top the charts in Pool A of the 2015 CEV Volleyball European League – Men upon completion of the first weekend of action.
Denmark was determined to prove that the tight two first sets in Saturday’s match were not a coincidence. The lead shifted between the two sides and the set was all even at 10:10. Poland got a small lead, and Danish mentor Mikael Trolle would have liked the challenge system to be a part of the CEV Volleyball European League, as a couple of very doubtful calls by the first referee of the match helped Poland increase their advantage and close the set 25-15.
The floor moppers in Antvorskovhallen had theirs to see to as the Danes, especially libero Ali Ibrahim Alievski, time after time sacrificed themselves in their attempt to keep the ball flying and were able to slide several meters in some spectacular digs. The second set was a copy of the first with the score levelled at 10 all, before Poland got a small cushion (16:14) at the second technical timeout. Little by little Poland increased their lead with some strong serving, which resulted into four aces, and cashed the second set at 25-19.
Down by two in sets, Denmark had their back against the wall. The Danes reacted accordingly taking an 8:6 lead at the first technical timeout of set 3. But then Denmark faced another wall – this time in the shape of Bartlomiej Grzechnik and the rest of the Polish blocking artillery. 11 block points against one single block stuff for Denmark determined the outcome of the set (25-16) and of the match with Poland securing their second win of the weekend without dropping a set along the way.
“I am happy with the win and that we have won these two matches in six sets. We were able to get all our players on the court, which is very important for us. I think the level was the same as yesterday, but today our service was better. Denmark still struggled sometimes with their service reception and that provided some good situations for us where we are able to have two or three guys at blocking,” said Poland’s mentor Andrzej Kowal.
“It is a shame that some of our guys fell out of the match for some reason. Furthermore, we were really unlucky with three injuries during the match and we had to make a lot of substitutions which destroyed our rhythm. Poland was very consistent throughout the match and if they play like they did today, they are a hard team to beat. On the other hand, we also made some stupid mistakes,” said home mentor Mikael Trolle.
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