11/07/2015 00:27
Poland keep perfect record in Pool A after five-set battle with Austria
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Twardogora, Poland, July 10, 2015. On Friday night Poland kept their perfect record and first place in Pool A of the 2015 CEV Volleyball European League, edging Austria 3:2 (25-20, 25-15, 27-29, 23-25, 15-11) in a thrilling five setter, in Twardogora.
Coach Andrzej Kowal’s players needed some time to get into the game’s rhythm, perhaps feeling more pressure than in the last away matches against Denmark. Indeed, the hall was packed with 1,400 local fans, all eager to see some real Volleyball action. Austria, on the other hand, did not waste time and quickly established a lead of as much as four points at 10:6. That was the turning point for the home team. With the help of Dawid Dryja’s great serving, the Poles closed the gap (11:11), started building a four-point advantage of their own and kept it for the most of the time till a 25-20 final score.
The second set started off with three service aces by Bartosz Bednorz. The visitors did not give up and were only one point from evening the score, but that was as far as they could get – the Polish machine was already in motion. Good serving and efficient blocking got them as far as 20:11 and Austria could do very little to prevent their opponents from finishing the second set at 25-15.
Such a big win had a bad effect on Poland’s focus. Austria, on the contrary, kept their cool and quickly established a small advantage (8:7) at the first technical time-out of the third set. A very balanced fight followed and neither of the sides was able to get a decisive lead. Adrian Buchowski delighted the audience with one particular action, defending a seemingly hopeless ball with his foot – a highlight of this set. After the second mandatory break (16:15) both teams still fought hard on a point-for-point basis, with Austria one step ahead of the hosts. Serving was the key and Paul Buchegger used that weapon well. Poland was seeking their luck in block and did it well, going even 22:22. Both sides had their chances with set-balls in the long and nervous finish but cool head and fewer errors won it for Austria 29-27.
Poland learned the lesson and, reinforced by opposite Michal Filip, quickly went up 8:5 in the fourth set. Clever setting and a few errors on the Austrian side nullified that advantage to one point by 11:10 and evened the score at 14:14. A bad block attempt by Michal Kedzierski and Austria left the court for the second technical time-out leading 16:15. A series of points with Buchegger on the serve added three more to that score, sealing the fate of that set, which ended at 25-23 Austria’s way.
Set five was a true test of nerves. Poland’s initial lead of as much as 6:2 melted down to 8:6 and 9:8. Serving was again the decisive element of the game. A net fault on the Austrian side won the set (15-11) and the match for Poland.
Thomas Tröthann topped the scoring charts with 15 points to his name, while Bartosz Bednorz got 14 for the Polish side.
Poland’s coach Andrzej Kowal said: “Both teams made a lot of errors and this defined the shape of this match. We wanted to play more through the middle, but couldn’t finish a couple of balls in the beginning of the game, so it all relied on our performance in the wings. If tomorrow we want to win without unnecessary struggles, we have to get back to our basics.”
Szymon Romac, team captain of Poland, added: “Winning this match 3:0 was within our reach, but winning the second set by such a landslide made us lower our guard and the Austrians used that. We are happy with this win. Tomorrow’s game is starting at the same time as today, so we have enough time to rest and get ready for another fight.”
Michael Warm, coach of Austria, commented: “We are happy with this one point. We are missing our two opposite players, so today we made the decision to put the next one on that position. In the first two sets we had no chances because there was no balance in the team. We had big problems to receive the services by Dryja and Bednorz. Then we changed our tactics, and played a bit more relaxed, so the last three sets were OK.”
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