The Polish national team achieved an important and decisive 3:0 (25:19, 25:21, 25:22) victory against the host USA in the Volleyball Nations League tournament in Chicago. Strongly supported by the numerous Polish diaspora in the arena, Nikola Grbic's players showed complete dominance and added valuable points both for the League standings and for the FIVB ranking.
Poland started the match with a bang, imposing their style from the very first minutes. A block secured an early 3:1 lead, and attacks by Michał Gierżot and Aleksander Śliwka unsettled the Americans. At 7:3, coach Kiraly was forced to call a timeout. Despite the efforts of Kyle Hobbs and Merrick McHenry to bring back the intrigue (11:10), the Polish volleyball players pulled ahead again with aggressive play at the net – 19:14. After a few service errors from both sides, Hobbs made a service error and Poland closed the set at 25:19.
The Americans tried to put up a fight at the start of the second set, but Kevin Sasak with a strong serve and Jakubiszak with a block put the Poles ahead 6:2. The USA closed in to 10:8, but Gierżot and Jakubiszak again increased the lead – 15:10. Although the Americans reached 17:17 after a series of Polish errors, they quickly regained a three-point lead after unsuccessful attacks by their opponent (20:17). Michał Gierżot again took center stage – he finished an attack at 23:21 and added two direct aces for 25:21.
In the third set, Jakubiszak and Jakub Nowak shone with blocks and serves (2:0), but the Americans managed to turn the score to 4:2. Gierżot equalized at 4:4, and at 11:11, Nikola Grbic called a timeout. After that, the match went point for point until 17:17. An error by Gabriel Garcia and successful attacks by Gierżot and Nowak tipped the scales in favor of Poland (21:18). Aleksander Śliwka finished the match with an effective attack for 25:22 and 3:0.
USA:Isaacson, Pastor (7), Hobbs (7), McHenry (8), Knigge (5), Ewert (1), D'Agostino (lib.), Jendryk (3), Garcia (7), Ma'a (1), Robinson (9), Shoji (lib.), Champlin (1)

Poland:Komenda (2), Śliwka (9), Gierżot (15), Jakubiszak (7), Sasak (10), Nowak (8), Graniczny (lib.), Gomułka (1), Kozub, Semeniuk

photo:volleyballworld.com