European National Team season kicks off in Poland

Walbrzych, Poland. Volleyball made earlier this week a symbolic step towards ending the prolonged absence of competitive action caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Two official women’s friendly matches were played on Tuesday and Wednesday in Walbrzych, Poland between the hosts and the national team of the Czech Republic.

Both matches took place in compliance with strict safety measures for both teams, organising staff, journalists and the host broadcaster Polsat TV. While no spectators were allowed inside the arena, the stands were not empty. Fans could mark their presence by sending their pictures, which were then turned into avatars that took the seats in the venue. 

Local fans could also get as close to the action as possible under these unusual circumstances, with a drive-in cinema set up outside the competition hall. 

For the local team the match was a test capping off a three-week long seclude training camp in Szczyrk, to which coach Jacek Nawrocki invited a significant number of new young players, many of which previously represented the country in junior competitions and have now made their debuts in the senior team. The Czechs, on the other hand, are in the middle of preparation for the upcoming EuroVolley 2021 qualifiers, with the CEV confirming earlier this week the relevant tentative dates. The Czechs are due to play the national teams of Latvia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Slovenia in late August / early September. 

Despite the absence of some of the well-known names, such as Malwina Smarzek-Godek, Joanna Wo?osz, Zuzanna Efimienko-M?otkowska or Agnieszka K?kolewska, the White-and-Red team started their season in style, with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-19) win, dominating the opponents especially at the net with their block. The match became more competitive in the additional fourth set, to which both coaching staffs had agreed prior to the start. The Czech Republic showed good fighting spirit and fought back for a 26-24 win in that extra set.

The Wednesday match was a completely different story, after the sides had already gotten to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The Czech Republic delivered a very solid game in both attack and defence, with good performances especially by Andrea Kossanyiova and Michaela Mlejnkova. The visitors won the opening set 25-17 and showed the mental toughness needed to extend the game into a tiebreaker (25-22). However, the young Polish line-up proved that they are able to withstand the pressure and regrouped to seal a 3-2 (17-25, 25-22, 25-17, 22-25, 15-13) win.

“This is the best result you can imagine for a sparring game,” said Poland’s head coach Jacek Nawrocki. “It was hard for the girls to get into this match – yesterday’s relatively easy win had its effect here. It was getting better later on: we defended better and made fewer errors in attack. I am glad that the girls pushed through, played an extremely hard match and won. This is a very important victory for this team.” 

Poland men’s national team is also preparing for their inaugural match of the 2020 season. On July 22 and 23 Vital Heynen’s men are set to face Team Germany in Zielona Góra.

Sources:
CEV – European Volleyball