Brazil and Poland taste success in 2011 FIVB World League openers – Volleyball update
The 2011 FIVB World League officially started off on Friday, May 27. The opening day of the tournament featured two games in each of the four pools. There have been some amazing performances in all the groups as the opening games attracted scores of fans
to the sports arenas in the respective cities. Pool A which was composed of volleyball powerhouses Brazil, United States, Poland and Puerto Rico, drew the most number of fans and created the most buzz.
In the first match, Polish hotshots contested their spike and block capabilities with the U.S. team, while the second match featured an interesting encounter between defending champion Brazil and Puerto Rico. Success graced Poland and Brazil as they proved
to be too strong for their opponents. Both matches concluded in three sets and awarded three points to winners apiece.
Poland vs. USA 3-0 (25-20, 25-22, and 25-19)
The two teams made their way to Atlas Arena in Lodz, Poland. The home side was equipped with enormous emotional support of local fans. Poland opened the game on a strong note. Zbigniew Bartman was on serve and he supplied plenty of power to the ball. The
first serve started things out and the first rally of the game saw Poland put away the early points, while the American side was yet to be on the score-board. Bartosz Kurek, in the number 6 shirt, rolled off amazing spikes in the American half and raised his
team’s score. On other side of the net, Priddy William, of the U.S. team was equally active. He hit some nice shots and managed to steal points from Poland. However, the hosts led the game with better score and didn’t allow visitors to take lead. First set
ended in Poland’s favour, while the scoreboard showed the final score of 25-20.
The loss of opening set dragged U.S. down. David Lee of the U.S. put up a valiant effort in the second set and killed many of Poland’s attack attempts. In the meantime, Priddy William made good use of his hands and nailed the ball in the gaps. American team
improved in scoring but Poland remained ahead of them. The duo of Kurek and Bartman proved the steel of their arms and stormed the American half with deadly spikes and cut shots. Second set also slipped from the hands of U.S. team at 22-25.
The success in two consecutive set enabled Poland to take full control of the match. They kept their dominance over their opponents in the third set and settled for their first-match victory. U.S. team suffered the damage of losing opening game to Poland.
Approximately, 8’100 spectators witnessed the match.
Brazil vs. Puerto Rico 3-0 (25-15, 25-19, and 25-16)
The second match of Pool A brought Puerto Rico and Brazil on to the court. The match was hosted in the Puerto Rican city of San Juan, while the Roberto Clemente Coliseum set up the field for play. Brazil was generally believed to be the better team with
an experienced line-up and the most number of gold-medals in the history of FIVB World League. Puerto Rico was a first-time qualifier in the competition. Brazilian side started with commanding serves and easily built a strong lead on the challengers. The top
spiker of Brazil, Vissotto, showed no mercy and stormed Puerto Rico’s half with ground-breaking shots. He came from different angles and scored consecutive points. The captain of Puerto Rican team, Hector Soto, worked out good shots and helped his team’s score.
However, the home side couldn’t save the first set as Brazil claimed the set with a margin of 10 points.
The second set also had some sort of symmetry with the previous set. Brazilian spikers were on fire and Puerto Rico suffered many blows. Nonetheless, the different attack strategy allowed Puerto Rico to score better in second set. The performance of home
team improved but still it was not enough to subdue the strong Brazilian squad. Puerto lost second set in row and game enter the third decisive set.
Brazilian team enjoyed a great rhythm and quickly covered the length of the third set. They didn’t stop their hard-hitting and pulled off success by winning third set with 25-16 on board.
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