Poland qualified for the semifinals of the Volleyball Nations League after defeating Ukraine 3:1 (25:22, 22:25, 25:20, 25:17) in the last quarterfinal of the final tournament in Ningbo (China). Thus, Nikola Grbic's team will face Slovenia in a battle for a spot in the grand final, while the other semifinal pair pits USA against Japan.
Interestingly, the two teams had already met in the preliminary phase of the tournament, when Poland dramatically won 3:2. This time, however, Nikola Grbic's selection again had to overcome serious resistance, albeit against a significantly changed Ukrainian squad, which saw the return of star player Oleh Plotnytskyi. For his part, the Serbian specialist also made serious changes, starting five different players compared to the regular season match, with only middle blocker Bartłomiej Lemański remaining from the starting six.
The Poles started the match strongly and took the initiative in the first set. After an early lead, they controlled the development of the set, allowing their opponent to get close to 24:22 at the end, but a block brought the decisive point for 25:22. Wilfredo León was the team's leader in this set, scoring nine points.
Ukraine responded in the second set. After a completely even game, Poland led 21:20, but the Ukrainians made a run of three consecutive points for 23:21. In the concluding rallies, Lube Civitanova's new signing Tonkonoh ended the set with a successful attack through the block for 25:22 and 1:1.
The third set also started evenly, with Ukraine even holding a minimal lead. Gradually, however, the pressure from the Polish serve, including Wilfredo León's, disrupted the opponent's reception. A curious moment occurred at 10:10 when Oleh Plotnytskyi made an unusual service error, failing to hit the ball during the execution. A little later, Bartłomiej Bołądź led his team with successful attacks, and Poland closed the set 25:20.
After taking the lead again, Nikola Grbic's team played much more calmly in the fourth set. The Polish block started working excellently, and Bołądź continued to accumulate point after point. Kamil Semeniuk also entered the game and helped secure the convincing finish, with the Poles closing the match 25:17.
The most effective player in the match was opposite hitter Bartłomiej Bołądź with 24 points, while Wilfredo León added 16. For Ukraine, Vasyl Tupchii finished with 13 points, and Dmytro Yanchuk scored 12.
Poland had an advantage in all key elements. "Drużyna Polska" finished with 52 successful attacks against 50 for Ukraine, scored twice as many block points (14:7), and more aces (4:3). The Poles also benefited from more opponent errors (27:24), which brought them a total of 97 points against 84 for the Ukrainians. At the same time, Ukraine surpassed their opponent in reception (78:68), digs (57:56), and setting (117:97), but this was not enough to reach a historic semifinal.
The victory sends Poland to a semifinal against Slovenia, who earlier eliminated Turkey 3:0. Thus, for the second consecutive season, the Poles reach the VNL semifinals and will seek another title in the tournament, which they won in 2025, and the match against the Slovenians promises to be a repeat of one of the most intriguing European rivalries in recent years.
photo:volleyballworld.com
