Russia – Poland
Poland and Russia extended their long-lasting rivalry – in and off the Volleyball court – on Thursday night as the home heroes needed to score a win to make it to the semifinals of the European Championship. With the largest crowd in attendance since the start of the event in Gdynia, the local guys started out bravely (5:2) as they could rely on the good omen of two friendly matches played against Russia before the EuroVolley and that they had claimed with the scores of 3-2 and 3-0. Russia had gone through many ups and downs in the tournament and this time the group mentored by Sergey Shlyapnikov had been miles far away from the stellar standards showed two years ago by the previous, winning generation. However, it was not going to be too easy for Poland as Russia responded well and basically drew the count by the second technical time-out. With their main attacking force, 208 cm tall Maciej Muzaj, on fire, the local favorites eventually re-opened the gap halfway through the set (20:16) but some horrible errors in reception helped Russia fight back and flip the charts at 22:21. Two time-outs asked by Poland’s mentor Jacek Nawrocki helped a bit, Russia missed out on two set balls but Muzaj served long to help his opponents cash the final 25-23.
One more set conceded to Russia and Poland would have been out of the semis, so some tension was to be perceived in the air; even though Russia was already out of contention for a spot among the top four, still they wanted to play for their honor and a furious battle unfolded in the second set; at 16 all Shlyapnikov decided to exploit once more the great serve of Yaroslav Podlesnykh and he immediately paid back the trust of his coach with an ace. Russia’s defense then helped Poland come back from 19:17 down to 19 all, the emotions continued and a fault from the back row whistled to Muzaj contributed a set point for Russia whereby Poland was on the edge of missing the semis. The Belgian delegation on the stands was shaking as the 2:0 for Russia would have meant their qualification for the games assigning ranks 1 to 4, but Russia missed two more set balls and Poland survived this drama by silvering their first set point for the final 28-26.
A similar story followed in the third set where the teams fought for every single rally and Russia finally claimed a margin of two by the second mandatory stop; quite suddenly Poland lacked consistency and quality, so with Russia going to the front 19:14, the risk of being eliminated from the semis was to be contemplated once more. But was Russia going to stay focused and this time finish the job? Belgian coach Steven Vanmedegael was going around in the stands like a lion in a cage, hoping Russia would help his side make it to the deciding stage of the Champs; some more Polish errors moved the score to 24:16 for the guests, and the quest for home glory was ended as Orczyk served into the net for Russia’s 2:1 that sent Belgium to the semi against Pool I leader, Spain.
The last two sets were not going to have any influence on the final standings of the group; Poland – even without Muzaj – imposed their pace in set 4 going for a comfortable 25-16 but then lost the deciding tie-break 13-15 at the end of a game that had turned into a rollercoaster.
