Jurmala, Latvia, September 15, 2020. Poland’s duo Jagoda Gruszczynska and Aleksandra Wachowicz are looking forward to the start of their EuroBeachVolley campaign, especially that the game against top-seeded Russians Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina will be their first official match played together in 2020. Gruszczynska and Wachowicz got their first opportunity to train together after several months last Wednesday, when Wachowicz came to Poland from New York.
“We are super excited that finally we will enter the court together to play as a team. We want to show our best, because it's our first official game this year and at the same time the last tournament of the season, so there is an extra motivation to give our maximum on court. We want to play our best Volleyball and we will see what result it brings. We will focus on our game and I think that we have some assets to use. Our rivals are very good players, but we will fight until the end,” emphasised Jagoda Gruszczynska.
The Polish pair joined forces in 2018, but due to the coronavirus outbreak they were not able to play neither train together for several months as Wachowicz lives in the United States. “We aimed to play this entire season together. In March I flew to Aleksandra to USA to train there together. We expected to open the season with the World Tour event in Mexico. Eventually, it turned out that all tournaments were cancelled and due to the lockdown, I had to quickly return to Poland after only a few days of our camp in California,” said Gruszczynska.
Her teammate moved to the U.S. after high school graduation and there she pursued her education and indoor Volleyball career, but eventually she switched to Beach Volleyball. "Until 2015, I played indoor volleyball, then I started to play Beach Volleyball. In 2018 together with my friend Agnieszka Pregowska we competed at an FIVB tournament in Huntington Beach having Kinga Wojtasik/Katarzyna Kociołek as opponents in our group. We lost the game against them, but I was noticed by the Polish coaches who offered me to come to Poland and I agreed."
Gruszczynska was extremely successful in under-age categories, and with Katarzyna Kociolek she won the 2013 U21 World Championships in Umag and triumphed at the U18 and U22 European Championships in 2012, but her ambition is to finally win an international senior trophy. “I was really close to make it come true three years ago. At the 2017 EuroBeachVolley here in Jurmala I secured the 4th place with Kinga Wojtasik. It was a very important achievement as it was a senior level, we showed great Volleyball and we were both very happy about our performance.”
Both players, who are currently not a part of the national team and train independently without guidance of any regular coach, were using every opportunity to play Beach Volleyball and improve their technique. The 28-year-old Wachowicz was showing her skills at beaches in the U.S. winning several local tournaments in New Jersey and successfully competing at the AVP Next events.
The 25-year-old Jagoda Gruszczynska was also extremely busy this summer, competing in the new summer format for the Polish League clubs (with 4-person-teams consisting mainly of indoor players) and winning trophies in all Beach Volleyball tournaments held in Poland, despite constant changes of teammates. “I believe it's important to have your permanent partner, because it gives a lot once you train and play together. Usually you play completely different with another partner and only a good connection brings best effects. However, due to pandemic we couldn't do it, but I think that we are already experienced players, who can take advantage of every match and we know what we have to improve playing with other partners,” pointed out Gruszczynska. Wachowicz added: “There are some benefits of playing with different partners, because with everyone you work in another way, adjusting plays and energy.”
She arrived in Poland last Tuesday and since then both players intensively trained in Warsaw before their journey to Jurmala. “When we found out that we are in the main draw, I immediately booked tickets, without any hesitation, because we really wanted to play here and have a great time together on and off the court. We had four very intensive training days in Warsaw. We are hungry for play and we will fight for every ball. We never give up.”
At the EuroBeachVolley 2020, Jagoda Gruszczynska and Aleksandra Wachowicz play in Pool D along with their first opponents Nadezda Makroguzova/Svetlana Kholomina (RUS) and Marleen Ramond-van Iersel/Pleun Ypma (NED) and Ida Sinisalo/Anniina Parkkinen (FIN).