Poland stun China in three

Just a day after suffering their first defeat in Volleyball Nations League 2023 and lost their leading position in the current standings to unbeaten China, Poland bounced back in the best possible way to personally hand the Asian powerhouse their first loss of the tournament and regain the top of the table. Polish opposite Magdalena Stysiak led the team to a stunning shutout of the Pool 3 hosts in Hong Kong on Saturday, with which the European side improved to a 7-1 win-loss record and 20 points, ahead of second-placed China on 6-1 and 17.

• Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 live on VBTV

Stysiak spiked 19 points at a 54% success rate and served an ace towards the match high of 20 points. Outside hitter Martyna Lukasik added another 13, including three kill blocks. Two of China’s players, opposite Gong Xiangyu and outside Li Yingying also finished with 13 points apiece.

Following a very competitive start of the first set, after 9-9, Poland gradually started breaking away for good. Spearheaded by Stysiak in attack, the Europeans widened their lead to as many as six points before sub-in Monika Galowska closed the set with a block-out shot for 25-20. Poland were in control for most of the second set too. China fought back from an 8-3 deficit to level the score at 9-9, and then again from a 17-13 lag to catch up at 20-20, but never quite managed to step in front. This time it was Stysiak, whose powerful block-out hit closed the set at 25-23 Poland’s way. Inspired by the home fans, China attempted a comeback in set three and managed to gain a 10-7 lead, but that was immediately wiped out as Poland regained control of the scoreboard with four points in a row. They kept their pace to widen the lead until outside Olivia Rozanski hammered the match winner for 25-22.

“We knew that China were a really good team,” said Rozanski after the game. “Yesterday we were a little bit sad because we lost. But we have confidence in our team and we can play against the best of the best. So we just forgot about yesterday’s match and we started a new chapter again. Every win is a big thing for us, because we want to win all the matches, and this one, for sure, boosts our confidence, so we’re really happy.”

China will wrap up their home tournament in Hong Kong with a game against defending champions Italy on Sunday at 20:30 local time (12:30 UTC). Poland are now done with Hong Kong and after a 10-day break will appear in the Korean city of Suwon for competition week three. Their next match will be against reigning Olympic champions USA on June 28 at 15:30 local time (06:30 UTC).

Two thrilling five-setters marked the day in Hong Kong earlier on Saturday. First, Dominican Republic managed a victory over Canada to rise to 10th place on a 3-4 win-loss record and seven points, just below the North Americans, who are now down to 3-5 and 10. The Dominicans showed some fantastic blocking during the match, as middle Jineiry Martinez produced as many as seven of the team’s 20 stuffs. Outside Yonkaira Pena led the team with a total of 20 points, while Canada’s captain Alexa Gray delivered the match high of 21 points.

It took five sets, including an extended tie-breaker, to settle the match between the Netherlands and Italy. The defending champs emerged with a victory to climb to eighth place on 4-3 and 10. The Dutch are 13^th on 1-6 and five. Italy’s outside and captain Myriam Sylla produced the match high of 26 points, while opposite Sylvia Nwakalor added another 23. Middle blocker Anna Danesi impressed with five of the team’s 13 kill blocks in the match. Nika Daalderop was the Netherlands’ best scorer with 22 points.

Saturday’s VNL action continues in Brasilia, where the Pool 4 programme features games between Germany and hosts Brazil at 14:00 local time (17:00 UTC), between Japan and USA at 17:30 (20:30) and between Serbia and Croatia at 21:00 (00:00).

**Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results**

Quick links:
Volleyball Nations League
VBTV
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter