World No. 1 Poland shocks Slovenia with reverse sweep; Dutch down Canadians

MANILA, Philippines, July 6 ------ Top-ranked men’s volleyball team Poland showed why it holds that distinction in the world rankings, stunning world No. 8 Slovenia in a five-set reverse sweep, 29-31, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-13, in the 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Aleksander Sliwka led the 2-hour, 45-minute slugfest, scoring a game-high 20 points on 18 attacks, 1 block, and 1 ace, while Bartosz Bednorz scored 14 on 13 attacks and a block. Despite Poland holding momentum after erasing a two-set deficit entering the final frame, no team led by more than two points in the cardiac decider, where the Polish stars scrapped and clawed for a crucial 12-10 lead.

As both sides traded nerve-wracking service errors resulting in a 13-12 Poland lead, Jakub Kochanowski broke his team’s tiny breathing window open with a match point-forcing kill, 14-12. Although he gave up a service error to Slovenia, 14-13, teammate Bartosz Bednorz had his back with one last hammer to secure the comeback win with the slimmest of margins. “We wanted just to be the best we could. We know that Slovenia is a good team, we had some history playing against them,” Sliwka said after the game. “The games against them are always tough for us and for them as well, so we expected a tough game, a good fight by them.”

Poland rises to a 7-2 record with the win and sends Slovenia down to a 6-3 slate in the crucial match. Klemen Cebulj tied Sliwka in the heartbreaking loss with 20 points, while fan favorite Rok Mozic backstopped the effort with 17 off 15 attacks, 1 block, and 1 ace.

Meanwhile, world No. 10 the Netherlands bucked a third-set loss to down world No. 15 Canada in four, 25-22, 25-22, 17-25, 25-18. Team captain Nimir Abdel-Aziz showed the way for the Dutch (5-4), pummeling down 24 points off 22 attacks and 2 aces, while outside hitters Gijs Jorna and Maarten van Garderen added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Ryan Sclater paced the Canadians in the loss that sent them down to a 2-7 record with 20 points off 18 attacks and 2 aces, backstopped with 11 points from Nicholas Hoag.

With the win, the Netherlands – ranked seventh in the tournament – stays in the quarterfinal race, while Canada, also No. 15 in the running, stays well out of contention.

Source: rappler.com