Polish fans enjoyed the spectacular performance by the home team at Centennial Hall in Wroclaw on Thursday
Wroclaw, Poland, September 4, 2014 – Poland outclassed Venezuela in straight sets (25-20, 25-13, 25-14) en route to their third victory in a row in Pool A of the FIVB Men’s World Championship in front of a big crowd at Centennial Hall of Wroclaw on Thursday night.
Mariusz Wlazly led the winners with 11 points followed by Michal Kubiak and Piotr Nowakowski with 9 and 8, respectively. Mateusz Mika and Rafal Buzzek each contributed seven points. Venezuela’s Kervin Piñerua had 11 points in the loss.
Poland held a big 10-5 advantage in blocking and blanked the opponents 7-0 in points from the service line.
Key facts
• Poland have won their three matches in straight sets
• Poland are undefeated in their four meetings with Venezuela at the WCH
• At the last four world championships Poland have won at least the first three matches
Poland’s record remained spotless and they next play Cameroon and Argentina during the weekend to complete the first round schedule.
Both teams started the match with service errors but Poland quickly showed that they were motivated to win their third match in a row. Kills by Mariusz Wlazly, Karol Klos and Mateusz Mika were too strong for their opponents. Before the first technical time-out, Jesus Danian Chourio managed to beat the Polish defence, however the hosts were leading 8-5. Following the break, Wlazly and Mika were producing kills that Venezuela’s libero, Hector Mata, could not cope with. As it was the case in the South American side’s previous matches, captain Kervin Pinerua was finishing most of the moves, but some of his spikes were ineffective. The set ended up with Wlazly’s kill as Poland won 25-20.
Mika stayed focused, so Poland immediately scored three points in a row. He was gaining points not only with spikes but also by a single block, just like Michal Kubiak who changed for Michal Winiarski. That all gave the hosts an 8-3 lead before the technical time-out. Poland managed to score four points more, mostly because of Klos’s aces. Meanwhile, Venezuela’s team received a yellow card because of delaying the game with an unreported substitution. That obviously made Vicenzo Nacci’s team more nervous as for the second break they had a nine-point deficit. Antiga had an opportunity to check the reserves in his team. They led the Polish team to another set victory. While Venezuela’s team were helpless, Carlos Paez’s mistake finished the set with the result of 25-13.
Again Venezuela’s team had serious problems with reception as the Polish service was accurate and strong. While the hosts were scoring points thanks to service, Venezuela’s players were making mistakes. Just before the second technical time-out, Kubiak and Nowakowski showed some great kills and Marcin Mozdzonek was stopping Venezuela with blocks. From play to play, Venezuela’s team were clearly tired as they could not find a way to catch up the Poles. The hosts, carried with the support of 7,000 spectators, knew that nothing could take victory away from them. Venezuela managed to get some good spikes by the likes of Pinerua, but the result was dispelling their illusions. Ernardo Gomez’s service error gave Polish team a victory 25-14 in the last set.