All ready for the first-ever Volleyball Nations League in Poland

Katowice, Poland, May 24, 2018 – Representatives of the four national teams, who are about to start the Volleyball Nations League Tournament in Poland, gathered at a media meeting in the iconic Spodek Hall in Katowice, where hosts Poland won their World Championship four years ago. The Polish tournament will start here on Friday and move to Krakow’s Tauron Arena for the following two days.Katowice, Poland, May 24, 2018 – Representatives of the four national teams, who are about to start the Volleyball Nations League Tournament in Poland, gathered at a media meeting in the iconic Spodek Hall in Katowice, where hosts Poland won their World Championship four years ago. The Polish tournament will start here on Friday and move to Krakow’s Tauron Arena for the following two days.

Stephane Antiga, coach of Canada said: "We will try to win with every opponent. Comparing to the last season we are missing two players, but we can play here well, we are in a good shape. We will play against very good teams, especially Poland and Russia, so we know it will be very difficult. We want to finish this weekend with at least two victories - that would be great for us. It's a long competition, so we will try to keep working and improving. We need to be prepared well for each game. We are so happy to practice and play in Poland. For me it's a pleasure to play here in Katowice and also in the beautiful Kraków."

Taylor Sanders, captain of Canada said: "We haven't played together for a long time as a team, just like the other teams. We need to try to win every game and put all of the elements together. I'm sure of one thing – the fans will be great and the atmosphere will be amazing. All the teams here are quite unique, play different styles of volleyball. Russia play powerfully in block and serve, Korea play really fast, so we just have to focus on another opponent very quickly. We know the Polish players very well so it will be fun to compete with them again."

Vital Heynen, coach of Poland said: "The Volleyball Nations League s a period when we can see how players are performing, like we already did during friendly matches against Canada when all players got their chances. I will go on with it during the Nations League, to get players on the court and see how they are handling it. Of course I want to win, but we cannot call the Nations League the "test", the world championships are the test. This is a process and it's a big difference. So far I feel very good, team feel very good, the atmosphere is great, players work hard and have fun. If it's about our opponents, we know nothing about Korea, I have no idea what will happen. They came with many new players, so it's really open thing. Against Canada, we already played two matches and in both we were very close, so it will be a tough game, especially that last year they finished 3rd in the World League. Russia is a current European champion, missing only Dimitry Muserskiy and Maxim Mikhaylov here, so they complete team and Russia is an absolute favourite for these three days. We need to understand that we have to build-up the position of Poland, because the team was 10th in the European Championships and 8th in the World League last year. Our first goal is to win some matches. I think, I will be happy if we win one or two matches already in the first part, because I will play with young guys, so let's do the first step."

Michał Kubiak, captain of Poland said: "This season isn't easy for us for sure, but everybody wants to give maximum to the team. Coach is changing the roster all the time to give us some time to breathe and also check our skills on the court. We are a new team, with new coach and we are trying to find our game and style, but we still need to fight for victories. We want to win as much as we can, no matter who will be on court."

Sergey Shlyapnikov, coach of Russia: "We are very glad that we can play in Poland again. We’ve just finished Russian league, therefore we didn’t have a lot of time to prepare to the Nations League. In my opinion the system of this event is one of the most fair, because we have 16 teams and every team will play 15 matches. We will have opportunity to see our opponents and gain new experience, what is crucial before the world championships. This tournament will be tough, because schedule is very tight. I want to give a chance to many players, to rotate with line-up, because this tournament is a perfect occasion for it."

Dimitry Volkov, captain of Russia: "We didn’t have too much time to prepare for these matches, because we just ended the national league competition. However, we are sure that our shape will improve with every match. We are optimistic before this tournament, we want to show our best and to test various players. We have strong opponents, so we have to be focused on preparations for these matches. We played two friendly games against Bulgaria and we won both. It’s always hard to play against Poland on their home soil, because they have always enthusiastic support from their fans."

KIM Hochul, coach of Korea: "So far we really like Poland and we are very happy that we can compete here. Poland have a great team, therefore we are glad to have the opportunity to play against opponents like them. Playing against so tall and physically strong players is an additional challenge for us."

MOON Sung-Min, captain of Korea: "The first match is very important for our team. We look forward to playing matches against all our opponents. We will do our best and we will fight until the end and we will see how it turns out."