Bronze for Poland
Daniël van Hoven | 7th October 2009

Polish volleyball ladies defeat Germany and seize bronze

Twice The Netherlands appeared to strong, but in the end, the Polish volleyball ladies ended the European Championships in third, after having defeated Germany in the battle for third place: 3-0 (25:16, 25:19, 25:23).

The tournament started uncertain for the Poles. The team of coach Jerzy Matlak kicked off with a convincing 3-0 win over Croatia, but needed a fifth set against Spain (3-2 win). Things really got tensed when Poland got a proper volleyball schooling by The Netherlands (3-0 defeat) and the Polish ladies displayed a very disappointing 33 percent attack efficiency rate in front of 13,000 home spectators.

Revenge was taken against Belgium (3-1 win), and although the victory was hard fought, it would appear the turning point for the Poles in the tournament. In a must-win situation, Poland produced an amazing display of volleyball and overcame Russia 3-1 (24-26, 25-22, 25-22, 25-22). And although The Netherlands again proved to be too strong in the semi-finals, the amazing performance against Russia was repeated against Germany, securing the third place, behind Italy (winners) and The Netherlands (runners up).

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