Poland became the first team to join hosts USA with a secure spot in the Volleyball Nations League 2023 Finals next month. In Thursday’s opening Pool 5 match in Suwon, they squeezed out a hard-fought victory over Germany to rise to the top of the current standings on an 8-2 win-loss record and 23 points. The Germans are not far behind, in fourth place on 7-3 and 20.
VNL 2023
Poland outlast Germany to book first ticket to VNL Finals
Stysiak and Alsmeier share top-scoring honours with 22 points each
Published 06:07, 29 Jun 2023
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Polish opposite Magdalena Stysiak and German outside hitter Lina Alsmeier shared the top-scorer honours on 22 points each, while Poland’s middle blocker and captain Agnieszka Korneluk impressed with five kill blocks towards a 15-point tally. Germany’s Hanna Orthmann finished with 19 points. Camilla Weitzel and Lena Stigrot added 16 each.
Germany stormed the match on a 7-0 run, with Weitzel behind the serving line. They continued to completely dominate on the court, outblocking and outserving the opponents until Stigrot hammered the winner for an emphatic 25-15 close. Poland stepped up their blocking during the second set. They opened up a 7-1 lead and with Stysiak leading the way in attack cruised on to level the match at 25-19. Middle Magdalena Jurczyk delivered the set winner with a successful first-tempo spike.
Korneluk in attack
Germany took the early lead in set three, but soon Poland caught up and gained the initiative. The Germans held up through 13-13, after which their opponents broke away for good. 19-year-old outside Martyna Czyrnianska delivered three aces during the set, with one of which she closed it off at 25-19. With Weitzel on fire at the net, Germany scored five in a row to take an 8-4 lead in set four. Vastly improving their performance in offence, they stayed in front through the rest of the set until Alsmeier’s swing fixed the final 25-19.
The Germans recovered from an early Polish 6-3 lead to catch up and push the tie-breaker to overtime. They denied two opponent match points, but on the third one, Korneluk crowned her great performance in the set by killing the overpass for 17-15.
“Another tiebreak in less than 24 hours! It was a very tough game with a difficult team against us, but most importantly, we won!” said Korneluk after the match.
Poland celebrate the victory
On Friday, Poland will take on Bulgaria at 12:00 local time (03:00 UTC) and Germany will face Serbia at 15:30 (06:30).
Thursday’s competition programme in Suwon continues with a match between USA and Bulgaria at 15:30 (06:30), followed by a game between Dominican Republic and hosts Korea at 19:00 (10:00). The day’s Pool 6 schedule in Bangkok includes games between Croatia and the Netherlands at 13:00 local time (06:00), between Brazil and Canada at 17:00 (10:00) and between Türkiye and hosts Thailand at 20:30 (13:30).
June 28 Results & June 29 Schedule.
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