U.S. receives early burns from Poland – 2011 FIVB World League
The thrilling action of FIVB World League resumed on Friday, June 17 after a pause of four days. Athletes had enough time to stretch out their muscles and nurse their injuries.
As the campaign entered fourth week, U.S. Team clashed with the Poles in opening match on Friday. The two are prominent members of Pool A and staged a great action on the centre court. Polish Team proved to be better and settled for victory after posting
3-0 (25-22, 25-19, and 25-20) on board. The Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman State, Illinois was totally packed up with stupendous amount of volleyball enthusiasts. The crowd was largely constituted with Native Americans, while good number of people was also
seen with the Polish flags.
The match was a close fight from start till end. American side produced powerful jump serves and convincing shots in the first set. Equally efficient, Polish hitters responded in the same tone. As a result, the first tie of scores was seen at 3-all. Poland
hit two consecutive points and broke the tie. Poles continued with hard-hitting and raised their score. In the next few moments, the hosts hit the equalizer and tied score at 7-all.
William Priddy and Stanley Clayton formed a good chemistry between them and created trouble for Polish team. The game picked up pace, while the scoreboard showed a tie at 12 points. The game of ‘hit and run’ continued afterwards. Kurek Bartosz of Poland
stormed American half with groundbreaking shots and put his side again in lead.
After the second technical timeout, Poland led the score for better time. Nonetheless, the deadlocks at 20-20 and 21-all were the highest moments in the game. U.S. team fought well but could not avoid the chances of losing first set. Poland secured opening
set by polling 25-22.
Anderson and Stanley came up with strong offensive attack in the following set and picked up an early lead of 3-2. The start of the second set was good for USA but they could not keep up the same energy. Polish side showed its attacking power and pushed
Americans behind. They gained better status and put pressure on the home side. U.S. team struggled to chase the score but most of their efforts did not work out. Poland led the score up until end and seized second-set victory at 25-19.
The rhythm and tone was set for Polish team to claim the match by winning third consecutive set. Americans started off well but failed to maintain their potential. They committed too many serve-errors, which caused them a lot of damage. Poland, on the other
hand, played tactfully and bagged victory by capturing third set of the game.
The two teams were exposed to media after the match, where team captains and coaches talked about the match.
American skipper, William Reid Priddy praised the valiant effort put by Poland’s team. He said his side had problems and could not perform up to the mark. On the other hand, the captain of Poland’s team Michal Bakiewicz thanked Polish fans, who came all
the way to Hoffman State to support them. He credited team’s victory to enormous support of fans.
Meanwhile, the mentor of U.S. team Alan Knipe congratulated Polish Team for an amazing victory.
He said, “They were better in most aspects of the game if not all. This was not the match we wanted to play. We didn’t bring the energy we needed to have.”
Andrea Anastasi, the head coach of Polish team was indeed greatly pleased with an incredible display of volleyball by his team.
Talking of the match success, he stated, “he most important thing is that we continue to play very well. The game was not easy for us because we were playing against gold medallists and their experience means a lot. But my young guys played a good game.”
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