Poland – Czechia 3: 1, The volleyball players lost to the Poles, even though they won the last set

Czech volleyball players in action (illustration photo)

Archive Andrea Kossányiová

After three weeks of training in Prostějov and Jablonec nad Nisou, coach Janis Athanasopulos and his team went to Poland. Walbrzych was played without spectators. “It was not entirely easy to arrange these two matches, mainly due to crossing the border. We had to test for coronavirus and fill in a pile of papers,” Miloslav Javůrek, the manager of the national teams, explained on the federal website.

At the beginning of the match, the Czech team blocked well, but it was hit by frequent inaccuracies and the opening set ended with an abysmal difference of 11 points. Thanks to a more imaginative attack, the semifinalists of last year’s European Championship did not allow the opponents to dramatize the ending even in the second set, and they decided the third act with the initial start.

According to the pre-match agreement, a fourth set was then played in front of the empty stands – only with portraits of 150 fans who paid for. The altered Czech team lost its lead in it, but eventually turned into a third setball after a Polish attack on the car.

“We’ve seen how we’re doing and what we have to work on. There are a lot of things we need to improve, but that’s why we’re here. We’ve only been blocked twelve times in the fourth set and that can’t happen. We have to play smarter.” recording for the media. “Overall, I have to say that after three months of training only, all the players tried. We will continue to work to the maximum,” he added.

After the cancellation of the European League, in which the Czechs were supposed to defend last year’s title, the national team is preparing to qualify for the European Championships. At the turn of August and September, the volleyball players will play tournaments in Latvia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, the fourth participant of the group is Slovenia.