The disparity in performance was significant. Defending champions Poland overwhelmed Turkiev.
Defending champions Poland swept Turkiye 3-0 (25-19, 25-12, 25-19) in straight sets in Week 2 of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2024 men’s tournament in Fukuoka, Japan, on Saturday (June 6). The disparity in performance was staggering. Despite the fact that head coach Nikola Grbic was without several first-team players, including Alexander Slivka, Marcin Janusz, and Bartosz Kurek, the hosts outplayed and out-served the visitors. It was an imposing performance from the defending VNL champions.
Poland started Kamil Semeniuk, Carol Kuos, Lukasz Kaczmarek, Bartosz Bednorski, Mateusz Poreba, and Jan Pirlej. Yakub Popivzak started at libero. For their counterparts from Turkkiye, Efe Byram, Mert Matić, Addis Lagumzija, Mirza Lagumzija, Bahit Emre Sabas and Murat Yenipazar were named in the starting lineup. 스포츠토토사이트 Volkan Dunne wore the libero jersey.
Early in the first set, Poland shut down Turkiye’s main gun Addis Lagumzija with a block. Poreba blocked back-to-back attacks to give her team a narrow lead. At 9-6, a double contact error on a pass from Matić brought Poland within 10 points. Turkiye lost the firepower battle and was unable to close the gap, and Kaczmarek’s serve at 13-9 kept the momentum in Poland’s favor.
Turkiye rallied midway through the set with the help of the Lagumzija brothers. At 11-15, Addis Ragumzija attacked and Mirza Ragumzija served for a point. Then, at 14-16, a Semeniuk kill and a Byram counterattack helped Turkiye equalize. However, a series of unforced errors hindered Turkiye’s comeback, and Poland regained the lead late in the set. Poland reached set point at 23-19 when Bednorczyk blocked an attack from Addis Lagumzija, but Bednorczyk fought back to take the first set 25-19.
After dropping the first set, Turkiye bounced back at the start of the second set. Byram came out on fire with back-to-back service points at 1-0. However, the Polish player quickly leveled the score with a quick winner from Kouros. Then, at 6-4, Poreba sealed the set with another block from Addis Lagumzija to give Poland a three-point lead.
After that, the good early momentum for Turkiye completely disappeared and Poland took control of the game once again. At 12-7, Semeniuk converted a high ball against a three-block to extend the lead to six points. Just like in the first set, Turkiye had no answers in the firepower battle and was quickly caught up in Poland’s tempo. The Poles doubled their lead at 17-10 on a Jakub Kohanowski kill, a Bednorski counterattack and a direct attack from Kaczmarek, followed by two more Kohanowski kills. In complete control, Poland closed out the second set with a Bednosi attack at 24-12.
The third set was all Poland from the start. Back-to-back kills by Byram and a block by Poreba made it a quick 3-0. Turkiye managed to close the gap and never trailed again as Khan Girbuz stepped up her attack, but Poland’s advantage remained strong. Kaczmarek broke at 10-8 and Bednorczyk broke on serve at 12-9 to chip away at the gap.
From there, as in the previous sets, Poland was in complete control. At 15-10, Pirlei made a one-handed save from Byram’s shot, and at 17-11, Yasin Aydin made an attack error. Turkiye had intermittent moments of brilliance, such as Mirza Lagumzija’s daring attack, but overall they were outplayed. Poland reached the 20-point plateau after a deft cover by Semeniuk and subsequent ball-handling by Bednosi, but Semeniuk’s kill at 24-19 sealed the shutout victory.