Korea topples Poland by 3-2 at FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship
The opening day of the FIVB Volleyball Women’s Junior World Championship saw the Korean team take on Poland on July 22, in the Gan Chimu Hall at Trujilo, Peru. The match lasted for five long sets as Korea was able to win 22-25, 25-22, 24-26, 25-19 and 15-10.
Gi-Ju Park, the Korean team coach, made the following comments in the press conference that was held after the match: “Since we came, we were very happy and never thought about losing this match, even when we lost the first set we won the match. As a matter
of fact, I’m very happy about this competition.”
On the other hand, the Polish team coach, Grzegorz Kosatka, made the following congratulatory remarks to the Korean team. “Congratulations to Korea. In the beginning, we were afraid a little bit because we had some doubts about the match. The team from Asia
was a difficult opponent. We also had to face some difficulties related to tiredness and flight delays. “
The start of the opening set of the game saw the Korean team struggle as they were having problems with the superior blocking of the Polish side, particularly because of the outstanding play of Ewelina Mikolajewska and Aleksandra Sikorska. These two Polish
blockers were giving their opponents such a hard time that Poland had a comfortable lead at 20-13. However, the Koreans were not about to give up as they managed to close in the gap at 24-22, at which point the Polish coach called a time out. This had the
right effect as Poland was able to seal the deal at 25-22.
Having lost the first set of the game sent a wakeup call to the Koreans who came out strong from the start of the second set. The Korean side was able to extend their lead to a margin of seven points. Poland managed to propel themselves forward and close
in the gap to a one point difference but that was all the Polish side could do as the Koreans bagged the second set at 25-22.
The Korean team dominated the third set of the game for the most part but Poland was able to shift the momentum in time to get the lead at 21-20 that eventually turned into a win at 26-24. Korea was determined to take the match to a decisive fifth set and
it showed by the sort of performance the Koreans put in to win the fourth set at 25-19. The Polish side was outclassed by the Asian side in the fifth set as they lost it, 10-15.
Next in line for the Korean team is a match against Belgium while Poland will take on the U.S.
Tags: