Poland defeats Bulgaria by 3-2 in 2011 FIVB World League Final Round fixture - Volleyball
Poland men’s national volleyball team were up against the Bulgarians on Wednesday, July 6th, which marked the first day of the Final Round of the 2011 FIVB World League that is currently taking place in Gdansk, Poland. With the two teams playing
at their best, the match took five long sets to reach its close as Poland handed out a defeat to Bulgaria, 3-2.
Spurred on by the home crowd and taking advantage of the time the Bulgarians took to adjust to the playing conditions, the Polish team quickly snagged the first set of the game. However, Bulgaria came back strong in the second set and was able to win the
third set as well. Poland responded by equalising the match with a fourth set win and moved on to systematically clinch the final set of the game. The final scores stood at, 25-20, 23-25, 14-25, 25-22 and 15-13.
The victory came as a relief for the Polish as they had lost in a clean sweep to the Bulgarians last year in the second round of the FIVB World League.
The start of the first set of the game went well for Poland as they were able to take the lead at 8-5. As Bulgaria was trying to get a hold of its footing playing against a huge Polish fan base, Poland did not have any trouble extending their advantage and
staying in control all through the match. As a result, Poland was able to bag the opening set of the game at 8-5.
Having learnt the lesson the hard way, Bulgaria started off the second set with determination. Both the teams stayed locked together till the middle of the game when Poland got the lead at 15-13. Bulgaria was able to tie the score at 18-18 and went on to
win the second set at 25-23.
Building on the momentum generated by winning the previous set, the Bulgarians came out strong in the third and made a quick job of sealing the win at 25-14. With such a disappointing loss and the imminent threat of match defeat, Poland stepped up their
game in the fourth set and secured it at 25-22. After a thrilling struggle in the fifth set, the Polish got their way at 15-13.
Despite the fact that they lost the match, the Bulgarian player, Tsvetan Sokolov, was able to gather the highest number of points among the two teams. Sokolov kept the pressure on the Polish side by registering a total of 27 points all through the match.
From the Polish team, the player that stood prominent was Bartosz Kurek, who was able to lead his team by posting 24 points in all.
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