Polish volleyball players could not withstand the pressure. The opportunities were not taken advantage of

August 30 is a national holiday in Turkey – Victory Day to commemorate the Battle of Dumlupinar from 101 years ago. Polish volleyball players tried to disrupt the celebration of their rivals, in each of the sets they fought with them evenly. But they also had downtime in each of themwhich made the rivals play for medals. Polish women finish the European Championship outside the top four for the sixth time out of the last seven tournaments.

The Polish women started the match with successful actions. They quickly managed to block Ebrar Karakurt, one of the most important players in the Turkish offensive – player moved from attack to reception. They also used a counterattack and quickly jumped back to three points. However, the rivals responded with thanks Melissa Vargas.

A Cuban-born athlete strengthened Turkey this summer and in the first set she scored seven points. But after a service ace and excellent defense Joanna Wołosz Poland was leading again 13:10 and Danielle Santarelli, Turkey’s coach, asked for a break. “White-Red” consistently aimed at Karakurt and finally the Italian changed it. Their advantage3 reached four points, but Vargas reminded herself again. It was enough for her to appear in the service area and her team equalized. It’s nothing that Maria Stenzel did wonders in defence. The Turks were leading 21:17, the Poles suffered in the party. It is true that they improved the result, but lost 23:25.

The organizers expected a full set of spectators in the hall of Palais 12 in Brussels and were preparing mainly on Turkish fans. However, expectations turned out to be exaggerated. There were fewer spectators in the hall than before Sunday’s match between Türkiye and Belgium. Moreover, Polish fans were not lost in the crowd of Turkish fans.

But from the first action it was clear that this match was not ordinary for the Polish players either. From the beginning, after successful plays, the Polish substitutes almost jumped onto the pitch. In the first minutes of the second set, they had a chance to celebrate successful blocks by Agnieszka Korneluk, which stopped Vargas. However, the Turkish women responded with equally impressive blocks during attacks Olivia Różański and Magdalena Stysiak.

His team was losing 8:10, but after a while they equalized. Later, the Poles gained two points, but the advantage was again eliminated by Vargas’ serves. When Różański finally broke through on the left wing in the counterattack, and Korneluk scored a point from the middle, Poland was already leading 21:18. But then Karakurt appeared in the field of service. “White-Red” had huge problems with the reception, and the Turks won six actions in a row and the whole set 25:22.

Before the third game, Różański spent a lot of time with the Polish team’s physiotherapist. Lavarini at this time answered the organizers’ question and stated that the match is still open. His players started well again, leading 5:3. When Magdalena Jurczyk She blocked Vargas’ attack, the scoreboard was even 10:7.

However, the rivals were able to equalize again. And after the White and Reds’ mistakes in attack, Turkey had a two-point advantage. Lavarini asked for a break, but then Stysiak was blocked. Vargas, however, was still effective. The Turkish stars did not allow themselves to snatch the victory and they could celebrate with the fans. They won 25:18.

Turkey’s rivals in the semi-final will be Italywhich they defeated France on Tuesday, and they haven’t lost even a set in the entire tournament. The Polish women will return to the game in two weeks, the games in Łódź will compete in the Olympic qualifications.

Türkiye: Vargas, Gunes, Karakurt, Ozbay, Erdem, Baladin – Orge (libero) and Aykac, Sahin

Poland: Stysiak, Jurczyk, Różański, Wołosz, Korneluk, Łukasik – Stenzel (libero) and Fedusio, Wenerska, Gałkowska, Szczygłowska

Damian Gołąb from Brussels