Germany beats Poland in five-set thrilling volleyball friendly-Xinhua

Germany beats Poland in five-set thrilling volleyball friendly

Source: Xinhua

Editor: huaxia

2023-05-26 16:43:15

WARSAW, May 26 (Xinhua) -- In a thrilling friendly match Thursday evening in Katowice, Germany's men's volleyball team triumphed over Poland 3-2 with set scores of 25-21, 24-26, 19-25, 25-17, 15-13.

Linus Weber led the scoring for the victorious visiting side with an impressive 24 points. Bartlomiej Boladz led Poland with 19 points, while Artur Szaluk contributed an additional 18.

The game held special significance for Germany's coach Michal Winiarski, revered as a legend in Polish volleyball.

Germany's solid reception and powerful serves resulted in a four-point advantage (12-8) in the initial set. Despite Poland's attempts to close the gap, Germany maintained their momentum, securing a 25-21 win following Weber's decisive strike.

The second set saw the hosts execute a stunning comeback from a 21-24 deficit to clinch five consecutive points. Karol Butryn's effective service and Karol Bieniek's decisive point made it 26-24. Momentum continued for the team coached by Nikola Grbic into the third set, limiting Germany to just 19 points. Mikolaj Sawicki's potent attack afforded the hosts a 2-1 set advantage.

However, Winiarski's team reasserted control in the fourth set, forcing a tie-break with a convincing 25-17 victory.

The tie-break began with Lukas Kampa serving two aces. Tobias Krick set up a match point with an impressive middle attack, followed by Erik Rohrs successfully breaching Poland's double block to seal the set at 15-13.

Reflecting on his debut in the national team, Poland's spiker Dawid Dulski said, "It was an amazing experience. I felt stressed, but after the first action, the bad emotions were gone. I feel I gave everything to meet the expectations."

The teams will face off again in a rematch Friday in Sosnowiec, Poland.