Poland maintain great form against Tunisia

Poland extended their perfect campaign at the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship 2022 to four matches on Sunday, when the two-time defending champions overcame Tunisia to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament they are co-hosting with Slovenia.

Playing in Gliwice for the first time in the event, the reigning world champions benefited from the support coming from the approximately 15,000 home fans that packed the stands to handle the African champions in three sets (25-20, 25-15, 25-20) and move forward in their quest for a third-straight and fourth overall world title.

· Watch all FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship 2022 matches live on Volleyball TV.

Outside hitter Kamil Semeniuk was Poland’s top scorer in the match with 13 points. The 26-year-old hitter, who was the Most Valuable Player of the last CEV Champions League, tallied 11 kills, one block and one ace, and had a 62.50% efficiency rate in attack.

The Poles were dominant, outscoring the Tunisians in kills (42 to 28), blocks (five to two) and aces (nine to one), but Semeniuk thought the team could have played even better.

“We’re very happy that we won this match 3-0,” Semeniuk commented. “Perhaps we could have played a little bit better, but the most important thing is that we continue in the tournament and it was great playing in front of our fans again. I don’t think our serves were as effective as they could today, so that’s something we’ll work on for the quarterfinals because it’s one of our main strengths.”

Star opposite Bartosz Kurek added 11 points (ten kills, one block), one more than Jakub Kochanowski. The 25-year-old middle blocker had an impeccable performance, converting all his five attacks in points and firing a match-high four aces.

Outside hitter Aymen Bouguerra was the only Tunisian player to reach double digits in scoring – he produced ten points with nine kills and one block.

The Poles will now play the United States in the quarterfinals. The Americans needed all five sets, but defeated Türkiye in their Round of 16 encounter earlier on Sunday in Gliwice.

Poles and Americans have met three times already this season. The Europeans won the duels in the Preliminary Phase of the Volleyball Nations League and the Pool Phase of the World Championship, while the USA emerged victorious in the semifinals of the VNL.

FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Poland Slovenia 2022: Schedule and results

Two other matches in the Round of 16 will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on Monday. At 17.30 local time (15.30 GMT), the Netherlands will play against Ukraine. Later, at 21.00 local time (19.00 GMT), it will be time for reigning Olympic champions France and Japan to face each other.

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FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship Poland Slovenia 2022
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