mobanmarketPoland, to 11,000 white and red fans satisfaction, finally achieved a three point win in the World League 2013. The defending champion beat Argentina and got closer to Bulgaria, Brazil, USA, and France in the Power Ranking. Pool A is decisively the most interesting of all in this year’s edition. As many as five teams still retains a chance to advance to the Final Six. Argentina only lost all hopes to be in top 2, however, “Albicelestes” will appear in Finals as they are the hosts.
Poland – Argentina 3 – 1 (18-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-17)
Poland: Zygadlo 3, Winiarski 16, Mozdzonek 8, Jarosz 14, Kurek 17, Nowakowski 8, Ignaczak (L) and Ruciak, Bartman 7, Kubiak
Argentina: De Cecco 1, Bengolea 6, Crer7, Castellani 13, Poglajen 12, Sole 8, Gonzalez (L) and Uriarte , Romanutti 5, Bruno 4
Argentina started the match with a different lineup than on Friday, using stronger and more experienced players. This resulted in their strong play from the beginning of the first set. However, the guests managed to jump ahead to a three-point lead at the first TTO. They remained in control throughout the set, increasing the advantage to seven points as Poland made many unforced errors. Argentina easily won the first set (25-18).
Set two brought a change in the hosts’ play-–they started very concentrated and quickly jumped ahead (6-3), forcing Argentina’s head coach Javier Weber to call time-out. Highly motivated, the White-Reds increased the advantage to seven points (15-8), once again thanks to the powerful serves of Bartosz Kurek and Jakub Jarosz. The guests were unable to catch the opponents, regardless of their impressive play on defense and the Poles picked up the second set (25-21).
In the third set, the score stayed very close, and neither team gained a significant advantage. The play continued on a point-by-point basis until the second TTO, after which the Poles, with great effort, managed to obtain an advantage (18-16) then (20-17). Argentina did not lose touch with the hosts, however, and tied the score at (23-23). Nevertheless, after a fierce fight, it was Poland who celebrated a victory (26-24) and a lead in the entire match 2-1.
The hosts maintained the momentum from the previous set, and quickly gained advantage in the next one (4-0). Coach Weber called time-out at that point, which made Poland lose their focus and gave Argentina an opportunity to level the score (7-7). Despite that, the Poles once more proved their dominance in serve as Zbigniew Bartman‘s hits gave them a (14-9) advantage. He scored two aces and gave the opponents a lot of trouble in reception with other serves. His teammates added strong spikes and the Argentinians were helpless. They romped in to a victory (25-17) and took the entire match 3-1.
Michal Winiarski of Poland, who was named the MVP of the match, recorded 16 points, while Argentina’s Ivan Castellani led his team with 13 points.
Individual Stats:
Poland Spike Spike% Block Serve DigReceptionRunning Sets NoteLukasz Zygadlo 1/2 50% 2 12 10.5Michal Winiarski 13/25 52% 3 11 32% Marcin Mozdzonek 7/10 70% 1 3 Jakub Jarosz 11/27 46% 2 1 7 Bartosz Kurek 11/26 40% 4 2 5 64% Piotr Nowakowski 8/12 66% 6 Krzysztof Ignaczak (L) 12 36% Zbigbiew Bartman 5/7 71% 2 3 Michal Kubiak 1 Michał Ruciak 100%
Argentina SpikeSpike % Block Serve Dig ReceptionRunning Sets NoteLuciano De Cecco 1/4 25% 12 8.25Pablo Bengolea 6/15 40% 3 15% Pablo Crer 5/16 31% 1 6 Ivan Castellani 11/25 44% 2 3 Cristian Poglajen 9/25 36% 3 8 26% Sebastian Sole 7/9 77% 1 5 Alexis Gonzalez (L) 14 51% Nicolas Uriarte 0.5Bruno Romanutti 5/7 71% Nicolas Bruno 4/8 50% 7 55%
Team Stats:
Actions Poland Argentina Spike points 57 49 Spike % 51% 44% Block 12 3 Serve 5 4 Dig 60 58 Reception 39% 37% Running Sets Note 10.5 8.75 Unforced Errors 32 21
Pool A Standing:
Rank Team Played gamesMatches won/lost Points 1. Bulgaria 6 5/1 14 2. Brazil 6 5/1 13 3. USA 6 4/2 11 4. France 8 3/5 10 5. Poland 6 2/4 8 6. Argentina 8 1/7 4