The White and Reds played their last match on Sunday friendly match before leaving for the games in Paris. The rivals of Nikola Grbić's team were the Americans. Compared to Saturday's match against Japan, the Polish national team coach made two changes to the starting six. Mateusz Bieniek and Aleksander Śliwka did not appear on the court from the beginning. The line-up for the United States was as follows: Bartosz Kurek, Marcin Janusz, Jakub Kochanowski, Norbert HuberWilfredo Leon, Tomasz Fornal, Paweł Zatorski (L).
United States weaker than Poland. Final test before the games passed
The Poles started game from a successful attack by Bartosz Kurek. The attacker entered the match very well and also finished the next two actions. At 3:2, one of the Americans made a mistake and our team was leading by two points. A moment later, Marcin Janusz made a single block and Wilfredo Leon an ace. At 6:2, coach Andy Read called for a break and this intervention worked. The volleyball players from the USA started to chase the result and after winning five actions in a row it was 6:7. After a time-out for Nikola Grbić. In the following minutes, the White and Reds returned to the lead. At 14:12, Aaron Russell made great serves and the Americans took the lead 14:15. Their series of points continued in the following minutes – the advantage increased to seven points (14:21). The volleyball players from the USA won a total of ten points in a row. Ultimately, there was no great awakening for the White and Reds until the end of the set and the set ended with the score 18:25.
The second set began similarly to how the first one ended – with the Americans having an advantage. Kamil appeared on the court Semeniukwho replaced Wilfredo Leon. However, this did not bring any major changes to the result – the rivals maintained their advantage. After the time-out for Nikola Grbić, the guests' advantage was already four points. Then the Americans began to lose their way, and the Poles began to catch up (12:13). However, Bartosz Kurek made a mistake in the service area. In the following minutes, the White and Reds were unable to catch up with their rivals. They maintained a two- or three-point advantage and ended the set with a win to 23.
The third set saw an awakening. The Poles started solidly and after a few minutes they were leading by two points. Unfortunately, at 15:13 the same thing happened as in the first set – a series of points by the Americans – they won four points in a row (15:17). In the end, the set evened out (20:20), and at 21:21 Jakub Kochanowski showed off an important service ace, and a moment later an attack. Eventually, the White and Reds won the third set 28:26, and Bartosz Kurek ended it with an ace.
The fourth set started well for the Poles. After a few minutes, the scoreboard showed 6:2. This advantage was maintained in the following minutes, although our volleyball players made mistakes. At 15:10, Read called for a timeout. After returning to the court, the Poles maintained the lead until they finally reached a tie-break!
The fifth set was quite even. However, the White and Reds were slightly better, winning 15:8, and Kamil Semeniuk showed good form in the decisive set. Throughout the match, the best scoring Pole was Bartosz Kurek (20 points).
The Ergo Arena stands were packed fans. Among them were the mayors of Gdańsk and Sopot, former Polish national team players Piotr Nowakowski and Wojciech Żaliński, and Lechia Gdańsk player Jan Biegański. Nikola Grbić's players will play their first match in Paris on Saturday, July 27, against the Egyptians.