The volleyball players triumph at the inauguration of the Nations League. A great start for the Polish women

The Polish national volleyball team begins its competition in the Nations League. In the first match of this year's edition of VNL, the white and red team faced the Italians, whom we defeated 3-1 not so long ago, which secured us promotion to the Olympic Games.

Stefano Lavarini's problems just before the start of the Nations League

Unfortunately, Stefano Lavarini has had big problems from the beginning. Due to health reasons, Olivia Różański cannot help her friends in this tournament, and another player quickly took her place – Paulina Damaske.

In the top six, the coach chose the following “six”: Alagierska, Korneluk, Stysiak, Łukasik, Wenerska, Mędrzyk, Szczygłowska (L). The beginning was perfect for the white and red team. The Polish women were already leading 5:1 after Wenerska's service ace.

Great comeback of Polish volleyball players

Unfortunately, a moment later something went wrong in our volleyball players' play and the Italians first quickly equalized (6:6) and then took the lead (12:15). In the second part of this game, the Italians increased their lead to 16:21. Much of this is due to the broken plays of our players.

When it seemed that the situation was hopeless, the white and red team pulled themselves together and started to make up for the losses. Despite this, the Italian women were the first to have setball (22:24). At the end, Stefano Lavarini made a brilliant change, replacing Piasecka for Mędrzyk.

It was a great move, because the increased Polish block caused Omoruy to make a mistake, giving us the result 24:24. In the most important moment of the set, the returning Natalia Mędrzyk showed off a service ace, which gave us the first set point, and then Martyna Łukasik finished her attack, sealing the victory in this set.

Crazy play in the second set

In the second set, the Polish volleyball players again took the lead 3:1, but their rivals quickly made up for the loss and gained two points (3:5). Just like at the end of the first set, the white and red team also made up for the loss. The play of both teams was very jerky, once our representatives showed off some great actions, and once the Italians showed off some great actions. With the score 9:11, Stefano Lavarini asked for a break for the first time to correct some mistakes he had noticed in several of his players.

It worked, because a moment later the Poles were leading 15:13. At this point, the rival coach asked for a break, but it didn't help, because Magdalena Stysiak's brilliant play gave us the sixteenth point, and a moment later Wenerska's ace allowed us to gain four points. This set ended with the score 25:23, and the decisive point was given to us by Antropova, who served into the net.

Another comeback of the Polish women, this time in the third set

Unfortunately, in the third set, the white and red team's game lost its effectiveness. Moreover, our volleyball players began to play poorly in defense, while the Italians played effectively. This made the rivals jump to 12:15. Two actions later, with the score 13:16, Stefano Lavarini asked for a break, which in the previous games allowed us to reverse the situation.

And so it happened. First, Martyna Łukasik broke the Italian block, and then Bosetti hit the net. Stysiak was close to winning the ball for the third time in a row, but unfortunately she failed. However, a moment later they managed to equalize and then take the lead (19:18). Ultimately, the set ended with the score 25:21, and the entire match 3-0.