The Polish national volleyball team kicked off the 2023 Nations League with a 3-2 win over Canada. Today, Biało-Czerwone will face much more demanding Italians in Antalya.
This year’s Nations League, in addition to prestige and a generous cash prize from the FIVB – $1 million for an all-round win and $9,000 for a match win with 4,000 “greens” for the losers, it also has an additional bonus advantage – the results are included in the ranking and count for the qualifications for the Olympic tournament in Paris 2024.
Every match, every set and almost every point in the Nations League is therefore important in the final analysis.
Only once in history have Polish women lost to the team “Maple Leaf” and that was in the ancient times of the legendary fiery coachAndrzej Niemczyk – August 14, 2004 in Goczałkowice Śląskie, when all our “gold” could not reach the training camp, Biało-Czerwone suffered a defeat 2:3 (25:21, 27:29, 25:19 , 10:25 p.m., 9:15 a.m.).
Tuesday in Antalya, the elected Stefano Lavarini they were terribly tired for the inauguration of the National Volleyball League. No injured captain and quarterback Joanna Wolosz of the Italian champion – Imoco Conegliano, our players were fine. They lost the first and third sets, and in the fourth and tie-break they won literally by touch. On the other side of the net, club friend Wołosz – the striker – was doing well Alexy Gray she played like in a trance and scored up to 37 points.
The 3:2 victory (20:25, 25:23, 20:25, 25:23, 15:13) should give our reps pause.
She had flashes of form Madeleine Stysiak, who scored the most in our team – 20 points. They were very unequal Olivia Rozanski (16 points) and Martin Lukasik. As usual chimerical environment Agnieszka Kornelukhow high Canadian women should be capped. She wasn’t very good with the balls she played Katarzyna Wenerska. The 19-year-old host of Grupa Azoty Chemika Police became the hero Martyna Czyrnianskawho scored decisive points in the fourth set and the tie-break.
Promising Polish Cup winner Czyrniańska of the new season will play for one of the most successful clubs in the Turkish Premier League, this year’s Champions League runners-up – Eczacıbaşı Istanbul.
Stysiak will also move to Turkey from Vero Monza but she has chosen another part of Istanbul and will play in the local Fenerbahce.
“I am happy with the result. We were able to find solutions in difficult situations, which were not lacking. The most important thing in the Nations League is to win, and the rivals also played very well
said Stysiak, pleased with herself.
The White-Reds had a huge problem breaking through the opposing defence.
“It was crazy at times. After the defenses of the Canadians, you had to attack again and again. You do what you can in attack and they still bounce the ball. It was really difficult to go on the field
– explained our best striker.
After a day off, the Poles are expecting another performance in Antalya today. This time the rivals will be extremely demanding defenders of the Nations League title, European champions and bronze medalists from last year’s world championships, which took place in Poland and the Netherlands.
The two teams will start this match with the same points record, as the Italians also won with the Thais on Tuesday 3:2 (24:26, 25:17, 27:29, 30:28, 15:11).
The “Squadra Azzurra” were also better than the Whites and Reds last year in the Nations League (3:1). And two years ago our volleyball players won 3:2.
The “Polish” group of VNL 2023 in Antalya includes Turkey, Italy, USA, Serbia, Thailand, South Korea and Canada.
The second group in Japanese Nagoya was made up of Housewives from Brazil, Bulgaria, the Netherlands, the Dominican Republic, Croatia, Germany and China.
The intercontinental phase of the Volleyball Nations League will last until July 2. The final tournament will take place in Arlington (USA) from July 12 to 16.
The start of the match between Poland and Italy at 4:00 p.m. Broadcast on TVP Sport and Polsat Sport, as well as on the tvsport.pl website, in the mobile application and Smart TV and Polsat Box Go.
