08/07/2015 20:53
Poland and Austria to battle for top spot in Pool A
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Warsaw, Poland, July 8, 2015. On Friday and Saturday, July 10 and 11, Poland and Austria, the two top teams in Pool A of the 2015 CEV Volleyball European League – Men, will battle it out in Twardogora, and after these matchups only one will be able to keep a perfect record in the competition.
Both teams have so far earned six points each and Poland’s lead in the pool standing is based on a better set quotient – the Polish players won both their matches against Denmark by 3:0 while Israel managed to steal one set in their second clash with Austria. The perfect score, although important for the white-and-red team’s morale, has no effect on their qualification to the Final Four tournament as coach Andrzej Kowal’s men already have guaranteed a spot in the final stage of the competition as Poland will be its host country.
This does not mean that they are treating the League Round matches lightly. “This is a great opportunity to try out certain variants of our game. Our squad has changed again, and we have a new line-up [compared to the Baku 2015 European Games], so these matches are really helpful. We are happy to be able to have even more games going into the Final Four in Walbrzych,” said Polish outside spiker Adrian Buchowski after the second match with Denmark played in Slagelse.
The Polish coach indeed let all of his players try their strength in the matches against Denmark. His squad is bound to change again before the European League is over. Andrzej Kowal would like to see Aleksander Sliwka reinforce the group – right now the 20-year old outside spiker is having some time off, after a very intensive league season and the recent European Games in Baku.
Friday’s match will be a European League debut for the GOSiR Hall in Twardogora but it will not be the first time for the Polish national team to play there. In 2011 they had a sparring match against Russia and in 2013 the same venue hosted a friendly game between Poland and Serbia. The local fans and their heroes hope that this time around the hall will prove lucky for their side – so far only the visitors have left Twardogora fully satisfied.
Both matches will start at 8:45 pm (local time).
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