Poland takes away game from Kazakhstan in third round opener – Women’s Volleyball
Victory graced Poland in the opening match of the third round at the on-going 2011 FIVB Grand Prix. The match was played on Friday, August 19 at the Hong Kong Coliseum. The Polish squad was challenged by Kazakhstan and the European girls launched authority on the Asian team and held them off for a 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, and 25-20) victory. Poland earned 3 points for winning the match in straight sets.
On the whole, it was the fourth win for Poland in three rounds of the 2011 FIVB Grand Prix. A match-high 15 points were contributed by Klaudia Kaczorowska which proved to be a great help for Poland. Olga Drobyshevskaya supported Kazakhstan with 11 points and she was the second best scorer of the match.
Poland opened the match with an impressive strike of volleys and added six consecutive points. Kazak team hit back and tried to chase the score but the Poles were in a better position to control the game. They remained ahead of the Kazaks and led the score at the first technical break, 8-4. Katarzyna and Klaudia Kaczorowska of Poland formed a great combination and added quick points. On the contrary Kazakhstan’s coach tried different substitute players but couldn’t achieve the desired results and they lagged behind and failed to stop Poland from securing opening set.
After dropping the first set, Kazakhstan used the back row attack and tried to cover the deficit. However, the idea didn’t work and Poland led the score. Kazakhstan was forced to call an early timeout, which built more pressure. Poland had good contribution of points by Claudia and Katarzyna as Poland led the scores 8-4 at the first technical timeout. The gap of points further stretched out as the game progressed. Kazakhstan could score only four points, while Poland moved to 11. Tons of pressure was mounted on Kazak side, which further affected their performance and they made more mistakes and dropped another set.
Kazaks were in deep trouble after losing two sets in a row. The third set was clearly a do or die situation for them and they incorporated the best of their tactics and struggled. They did create a tie at 9-all but overall Poland took the game away from them. The third set ended with the final score of 25-20.
Swiderek Alojzy, the Head Coach of the Polish team, praised the good efforts of his players. He stated: “This is an important result for us (3-0). I hope we can keep on winning. Still, I am not quite satisfied with all elements in the game, especially in blocking and receiving. But in overall,I think our girls did well." The captain of the team, Milena Radecka, also seemed delighted about the victory. Speaking of the importance of third round she said: “Every single point is vital."
Coach of the opposite team, Baitureyev Bakhytzhan, acknowledged the hard work of his players. In his view, Dominican Republic suffered the set-back due to reception errors. Korinna Ishimtseva, the Dominican Republic skipper had similar things to say and stated that her side made plenty of mistakes, which led them to the loss of important match.
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