This time, two wingers: Bartosz Bednorz – Kamil Semeniuk led the “Maple Leaf” team to victory.

No one said it would be easy for the White and Red team to compete in the Olympic qualifying tournament in Xi’an, China. In the third match we won for the second time in the tie-break and also by advantage. This time we beat a well-playing Canada and took another step towards next year’s matches in Paris. The next match against Mexico should be a little easier.

Coach Nikola Grbic decided to make a change from the match against Bulgaria. Paweł Zatorski replaced Jakub Popiwczak as libero, but this did not have a major impact on the team’s performance. The white and red team, just like in the match against the Belgians, started slowly and from the first moments they had problems not only receiving, but also ending the attack. Maple Leafs volleyball players performed equally in all aspects. They rejected our players with their serve, played well defensively and were much better offensively. They took the lead 16:12 and carefully held that advantage. The victory of the rivals was certain and deserved, because they were clearly better. We made nine errors against five opponents. It was definitely too much in such a tight set.
However, in the next version everything returned to normal. Our volleyball players strengthened their serve and limited their own errors. The main role was played by the very active Bartosz Bednorz. The white and red team took a solid seven-point advantage (13:7) and controlled events on the field.

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We were already leading 9:14 p.m. and it looked like the set was going to end quickly. Meanwhile, with the score at 24:15, we lost five points in one set. Ultimately, Bednorz finished this match. The next one was similar. Coach Grbic’s players scored four points on Bednorz’s serve, took the lead 17:10 and only gave it up at the very end. There was no indication that we would experience such emotions again in this fight.

In the fourth set, the Canadians once again focused and played extremely solid on offense. First, they drew at 3:15 p.m. and took the lead at 7:16 p.m. Despite our team’s best efforts, they were unable to make up for their losses until the end. Once again, the winner was decided by a tie-break. And in there, especially in the last fragments, Kamil Semeniuk shone. He attacked his opponents with his serve, but above all he was extremely effective in attack. It was none other than him who scored the last three points. Before this happened, there was a lot of emotion as both teams failed to gain an advantage greater than two points. The Canadians played another good game and deserve credit for fighting until the end. They lost the match, but they are still in the race to qualify for the Olympics and they have a good chance, after all, they will now be playing against slightly lower ranked teams.

– We were perfectly aware that it would not be easy, but we survived the difficult moments – said the quarterback after the match. [Marcin Janusz]. – We showed good quality in key moments of the tie-break. Our rivals had nothing to lose and served and attacked with hellish force. We know what the stakes are and we want to win until the end of this difficult and tiring international season.

The Polish team made as many as 36 errors, including 30 in the service zone with 5 service aces. Łukasz Kaczmarek suffered a lot in this match and his replacement Bartlomiej Bołądź could not replace him. In this situation, the coach decided to experiment and Aleksander Śliwka played the role of striker for a short time. It was the fourth set, but Kaczmarek returned for the tie-break, replaced by Bołądź. Another winning match for our volleyball players, and four more to come…

Poland – Canada 3:2 (9:25 p.m., 10:20 p.m., 10:20 p.m., 8:25 p.m., 5:15 p.m.)

POLAND: Janusz (1), Bednorz (25), Kochanowski (10), Kaczmarek (9), Semeniuk (15), Huber (16), Zatorski (libero) and Łomacz, Bołądź (1), Leon, Śliwka (1). Coach Nikola GRBIĆ.

CANADA: Herr, Maar (19), Demianenko (2), Szwarc (11), Loeppky (16), Schnitzer (10), Lui (libero) and Hoag (4), Walsh (3), Canham, Van Berkel, Hofer. Coach Tuomas SAMMELVUO.

Judged by: Mozzo Carbajal (Uruguay) and Stefano Cesare Stefano (Italy). The viewers 800.

The progress of the match

• AND: 8:10 a.m., 12:15 p.m., 5:20 p.m., 9:25 p.m.
• II: 10:6 a.m., 3:8 p.m., 8:14 p.m., 25:20 p.m.
• III: 10:8 a.m., 3:10 p.m., 8:16 p.m., 25:20 p.m.
• IV: 10:9 a.m., 3:14 p.m., 5:20 p.m., 8:25 p.m.
• V: 5:3 p.m., 9:10 a.m., 5:15 p.m.

Character – Bartosz BEDNORZ.

In the photo: Bartosz Bednorz was once again the most effective player of the white and red team and, of course, he added some “bricks” to this victory.
FIVB Photo

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