Poland beats Czech Republic at home – Volleyball News
It was an off-night for the men’s national volleyball team of the Czech Republic as they dropped an important final round playoff match of the 2011 CEV European Championship to Poland after a gruelling fight. The match was hosted at the Czech city of Karlovy
Vary on Wednesday, September 14.
In the four set-match Polandd did well and seized victory at the loss of just one set. The visiting team posted 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 31-29, and 25-18) to clinch success. The Czech Republic struggled to qualify for the quarter finals but the Poles shattered
their dreams and settled for the quarter-final slot. Polish team will now put up against Slovakia in the next match on Thursday.
A crowd of more than 4,000 spectators was present in the sports arena. The match was opened on a high note and an exchange of fast serves. Home side attacked and tried to put pressure on the opposite. However, the Poles were fully prepared to take up the
challenge. They defended well and recorded great spikes and effective blocks. As a result, the score shifted up with small gap. Jan Stokr of Czech Republic attempted frequent attacks and remained focused on getting points for his team. Likewise, Piotr Gruszka
of Poland actively participated in the net action. The first set saw a tie up to 20-all. Meanwhile, Poland clipped a narrow margin and converted the score into 24-21. The visitors put huge effort but couldn’t save the opening set as Poland claimed success
by posting 25-23.
The Czech players stormed back in the second set. They realigned their positions and came up with strong offensive attack. Lukas Tichacek, the setter from Czech Republic, did a great job and helped the spikers to score quickly. She fired up his side to draw
level at 5 in the second set. Poles offered solid blocks to Czech shots but they couldn’t fully stop them. The score tied up at 22-22. This time, Czech Republic got the edge and closed off second set at 25-22.
After creating a tie of scores, the home side continued with the action and jumped to a 16-10 lead. Poland lagged behind until Michal Kubiak scored five consecutive points and put his team in the lead. Czechs were not ready to lose and fought until the set
points. Nonetheless, Poland managed to whip Czech Republic in 37 minutes and won the third set 31-29.
Set four was another struggle as both sides demonstrated wonderful play. The scoring machine from Poland, Bartosz Kurek, set the tempo for his team. Czechs remained close but failed to surpass their opponents. Hosts dropped the decisive fourth set by trailing
behind with 7 points and acknowledge Poland’s better status 25-18.
“We knew what kind of team we were going to play. Recently we have lost to them and on their home ground it was supposed to be a difficult game. There were two crucial moments, in my opinion as the score stood at 21:18 in the second set and then when the
Czechs were leading 20:16 in set 3 and we turned it around. We will now clean up our minds as we want to get ready for the next game and qualify for the semifinals in Vienna,” said Poland’s skipper Piotr Gruszka after the match.
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