Slovakia defeats Poland by 3-1 in Pool D: 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship
Pool D matches of the 2011 CEV Volleyball European Championship took place in Prague, Czech Republic and saw the Slovakian men’s national volleyball team clash with the Polish squad on September 12. The four set contest ended with the Slovenians winning
3-1.
The first set of the match saw both teams equally matched. After Poland won the opening set, they could not provide the Slovakians with the same challenge as in the first set of the game. This helped Slovakia to come level by winning the second set. Once
the Slovakians had their confidence up they were able to capitalise on the momentum generated by a win and went on to take the third as well as the fourth sets. The final set score displayed a Slovakian win at: 23-25, 25-21, 25-18 and 25-23.
The coach of the Slovakian side, Emanuele Zanini, shared his sentiments in the following statements in the press conference that was conducted after the match had reached its close: “I am more than satisfied as we have finished the group in first place.
Everyone thought we were not going to have some good chances in this group and that we were the outsiders, now we are on top of the standings. Today I even had the possibility to use some of the players that I do not use that regularly.”
On the other hand, the head coach of the Polish team Andrea Anastasi expressed his feelings by sharing the following statements: “I want to congratulate Slovakia for this win. It was a very tough match for us after losing to Bulgaria yesterday”.
The first set of the match went back and forth for the most part but the final stages of the frame saw the Polish side speed up towards a win at 25-23. The second set found the Slovakians trailing behind at 4-10 but they did not give up and tied the match
at 14-14 before going on towards a win at 25-21. After the Slovakians had won the second set, they did not stop till they had the whole match in their bag.
The Slovakians have been having a good time in the tournament so far and their consistency of performance has enabled them to go on a three match winning streak. Their recent win has enabled the Slovakians to move on to the quarter-final round of the tournament
and it places Slovakia at the top of the Pool D. The quarter-finals of the championship are scheduled to take place on the September 15 in Karlovy Vary.
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