12/07/2015 00:26
Poland keep perfect record after second tie-break win of the weekend
2015 CEV Volleyball European League - Men
Twardogora, Poland, July 11, 2015. There was no change of places at the top of Pool A in the 2015 CEV Volleyball European League – Men as the provisional leaders of Poland defeated the number two, Austria, in another five setter on Saturday night in Twardogora (25-22, 15-25, 26-28, 25-18, 15-12).
Great serving by Friday’s hero Adrian Buchowski kicked Poland off to a good start (4:1) but Austria managed to catch up with some effective spiking. The visitors’ own errors got Poland on a three point lead again (11:8) and from then on it was only getting better for the home team. Opposite Michal Filip impressed with his skills, leading his team to a final 25-22, even though Austria had their moments towards the end of the set.
Coach Michael Warm’s players had a much better start into set number two. They were not afraid to risk with strong serving and it paid off – the Polish reception was struggling and soon it was 4:8 at the first technical time-out. With a consequent, steady play Austria kept that lead into the second mandatory break. Substitutions made by home coach Andrzej Kowal could not change the course of the game – on the contrary. The white-and-reds seemed frozen and the point gap only widened, up until the final 15-25.
Unlike Poland in Friday’s match, Austria did not get distracted by such a high win and at 2:5 in set three the Polish fans feared that their team’s bad streak would continue. It did not happen – Poland stepped up and was only one point behind the guests, mostly thanks to a great performance by Bartosz Bednorz and Dawid Dryja. The latter one’s service ace finally got the home team back on track at 12:11. The game only got harder from then on, both teams fighting for every point. In the thrilling finish, after the first set-ball for Austria, Poland managed to stay strong and go 24:24 and even got their chance to end the set at 26:25. That unused chance fired back and, after a heroic fight, the white-and-red team had to concede the set to their opponents (26-28).
Set four saw Poland’s revival – at the second technical time-out the local heroes were already five points ahead, as their block was not functioning very well, but their attack efficiency seemed to have improved drastically. The first set-ball came at 24:18 and Polish captain Szymon Romac did not let it go to waste.
For a moment in the tie-breaker (3:3 and 4:4) it seemed that the game could have gone either way, but Poland retained their good disposition from the previous set and, not without some luck, went on to seal the game with Dryja’s spike (15-12).
Austrian team captain Alexander Berger topped the scoring charts with 22 points, followed by Polish opposite Michal Filip with 20.
Michael Warm, coach of Austria, said: “For us it was a fantastic experience to play in Poland, the Volleyball centre of Europe. Two points won against Poland is a very good result, but still, both today and yesterday we had our chances to win these matches.”
Polish player Wojciech Wlodarczyk: “We played two, very uneven matches but we’re happy with the wins. I joined the team later than some of my colleagues, so my form is still far from ideal. I know that Austria can play very well, because I spent some time there myself, and they showed it here in Twardogora. Our coach changed the lineup and tried new configurations and we’re happy that everyone got a chance to play. It’s really important before the Final Four in Walbrzych.”
His teammate Grzegorz Pajak added: “The team still needs to tune in better – we’ve only been together for a week and a half. We need to better the quality of our setting after bad reception. It’s not that we played bad this weekend or worse than last week in Denmark – this time we simply had a much better opponent, who really benefited from the great atmosphere in the hall. Both teams made fewer mistakes today and overall, I think it was a great match.”
Click here for more info including detailed stats of the match
|