Poland stun Olympic champions USA in Lodz

Playing in front of their home fans in Lodz, Poland had probably their best performance at the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship so far and upset reigning Olympic champions the United States in their second match of Phase 2 of the tournament on Wednesday.

The Pool F matchup that concluded the second day of Phase 2 ended with a surprisingly dominant three-set (25-23, 25-20, 25-18) triumph for the Europeans, who defeated the Americans in an international tournament for the first time since 2010.

· Watch all FIVB Volleyball Women’s World Championship 2022 matches live on Volleyball TV.

“I think today we surprised even ourselves a little bit,” Pole captain and setter Joanna Wolosz said just after the final whistle. “We played amazing, I think we were very free on the court. After letting some opportunities slip away against Serbia on Tuesday, we just wanted to enjoy the match as much as we could today. We brought everything we had and had a lot of fun”.

The biggest win of Polish women’s volleyball in recent years was possible thanks to the excellent performance of Magdalena Stysiak. The 21-year-old opposite produced a match-high 19 points with 16 kills and three blocks, while hitting at a 37.5% efficiency rate.

The Poles were also much stronger with their blocking, which generated 12 points against just four produced by the Americans. The Europeans also had the edge in kills (37 to 34) and opponent errors (23 to 19) while the Olympic champions led in aces (four to three).

Kamila Witkowska and Olivia Rozanski scored nine points each, with the middle blocker registering five kills, two blocks and two aces and the outside hitter tallying six kills and three blocks. Middle blocker Agnieszka Korneluk added another eight, with six kills and two blocks.

“Looking at the tournament, this victory doesn’t assure us of anything, but beating the Olympic champions is for sure a big deal,” Wolosz added. “It may take several years for it to happen again and this is a very special result for this group. It makes us believe that if we are able to keep this same spirit and continue having fun, we can achieve a lot. And to have done it in front of our fans…I’m sure this is a match we’ll remember for a long time. We love our fans and can’t wait to play in front of them again this weekend.”

Opposite Annie Drews was the most productive player on the American team with 12 points (all in kills), with middle blocker Haleigh Washington coming next with eight (five kills, two blocks, one ace).

Three other Pool F matches were played earlier on Wednesday, with Germany topping Thailand 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23), Türkiye downing China in three sets (25-22, 26-24, 28-26) and defending champions Serbia prevailing over the Dominican Republic also in three sets (26-24, 25-20, 25-17).

The only undefeated team at this point of the tournament, Serbia sit at the top of Pool F with seven wins (20 points). Trailing the defending champions are Türkiye, with six wins (17 points), USA, with five (15), Poland (13), Canada (11) and Thailand (ten), with four, and the Dominican Republic (11) and Germany (ten), with three. The four best-ranked teams in the group will move forward to the quarterfinals.

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

All Pool F teams will have the day off on Thursday and will return to the court on Friday, when Serbia will face Thailand at 15.00 local time (13.00 GMT), USA will meet Türkiye at 17.30 (15.30), the Dominican Republic will play against Germany at 19.00 (17.00) and Poland will challenge Canada at 20.30 (18.30).

Quick links:
FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship Netherlands Poland 2022
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube