Day 2 - Pool A recap : 2011 FIVB Grand Prix – Volleyball News
Pool A of the 2011 FIVB Grand Prix is comprised of teams from Poland, Argentina, Italy, and Dominican Republic, while the rest of 12 teams have been placed in three other pools. The tournament, which was officially opened on Friday, August 5, had two matches
played in each group on Day 1. Poland and Italy managed to take a good start in the campaign and finished the day with success. On the other hand, Argentina and the Dominican Republic couldn’t prove their endeavours in the opening fixtures and remained without
a win. The Polish city of Bydgoszcz hosted all the action for Pool A and the tournament entered second day on Saturday, August 6 and all teams met new competitors.
Hosts Poland crossed ways with the Dominican Republic, while Argentina was challenged by Italy on Saturday.
Poland vs. Dominican Republic
First match on Saturday was nail-biting competition between home squad and guest team from Dominican Republic. The visiting team sparked on the scene and outshone Poles by posting 3-2 (21-25, 25-17, 26-24, 23-25, 18-16) on board. The majority of local fans
left the sports arena with heavy hearts. Dominican’s Priscilla Rivera shared the top-scorer’s position with counter-part Katarzyna Konieczna of Poland. Both of them were credited for 17 points apiece.
The start of the match was not good for Polish team as they committed too many reception errors. Dominicans, who had lost their previous matches, were quite like hungry wolves in the match. They played fast and secured opening set of the match. In response,
Polish team displayed better game in second set. They found their feet with good attack and defence of Marte Frica Niverka. Priscilla Rivera. They won second set and created first tie of the scores in match.
Poor serving and feeble attacking of Dominican Republic allowed Poland to extend its lead to 2-1 in third set. Poland dropped third set with a narrow gap of two points but managed to push Dominicans behind in the fourth set. Poles create the dead-lock of
2-2 by winning fourth set. The see-saw battle continued in final set as Dominican Republic bounced back in the game. They pulled off success in fourth set and announced match victory.
The coach of Dominican Republic, Marcos Kwiek expressed his views after the match. He said: “It was an intensive match, but it’s usual when this two teams meet and we were prepared for this. We have to work hard and get the experience, because next games
can be even tougher. I think that after this victory there’s no doubt, that we are well prepared physically”.
Milena Radecka, the captain girls of Polish side was really disappointed with the loss of important match. She regretted that they couldn’t control the game after the tie break. However, she hoped to get better results against Italy in the last match of
the round on Sunday.
Italy vs. Argentina
In the second match, Italy continued with success and bagged second consecutive win of the tournament. They demonstrated a stellar performance against Argentina and claimed the match by scoring 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-20, and 25-18).
Italian Coach Massimo Barblini worked out a great plan for his team and led them to success. Argentinean squad managed to create a bit of trouble for Italy in second match and tied the score. However, Italy captured last two sets of the match in a row and
earned the status of victorious team.
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