Year 2017 summary: Men's National Team

Year 2017 summary: Men’s team

The year 2017 was certainly a year of changes for Poland men's national team. The Polish players under the guidance of the new head coach - Ferdinando De Giorgi - were preparing for the main event of the season - the European Championship - LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017. Intensive training and camps ought to have resulted in good performance at the tournament at the end of August and beginning of September.

The Italian coach had his official debut in front of the Polish fans during a friendly match against Iran in Spodek Katowice. The game, which was also the official National Team farewell for Krzysztof Ignaczak, ended with a straight-set victory of white-and-reds.

The FIVB World League was the first test for the team led by Ferdinando De Giorgi. Polish players inaugurated the historical - last - edition of this competition in Pesaro, Italy beating the Brazilians in the tie-break. A day later, they impressed all fans even more by taking victory over the hosts 3:1. However, in the last match on the Adriatic coast, Iran got their revenge for the defeat in Katowice by winning 3:1.

In the second week of the event, Poland played their matches in Varna, Bulgaria. In their opening game they faced the hosts suffering a loss in an exciting five-setter. Next day, the Canarinhos avenged their previous defeat, claiming a 3:1 victory. The weekend ended with the Polish win against Canada, which was led from that season by Stephane Antiga. The players under the guidance of the former Polish coach were better only in one set of the  encounter. Before the last weekend of the pool phase, Poland still had a chance to qualify for the World League Final Six.

In Spodek, on home soil, Poland was defeated by Russia in straight sets. The matches in Łódź were crucial. First, the team led by De Giorgi claimed a 3:0 shutout of Iran, and then, in the decisive match lost 1:3 to the United States. Eventually Poland took the 8th place in the World League. In the final tournament which was held in Curitiba, Brazil, France beat Brazil 3:2 in a gold medal match and Canada - quite unexpectedly - won in bronze medal clash with the United States.

The white-and-red team played their next matches after almost two months of break, during the 15th Hubert Jerzy Wagner Memorial. The organizers did their best to provide a strong cast - Russia, France and Canada had a chance to show their skills on court next to Poland in Tauron Arena. The fans could not complain about the lack of emotions, already the first match against France was a five-set thriller, which ended with the victory of the guest team. A day later, the Poles played a fierce three-set encounter with Canada. Then, it was the time to clash with Russians, the fans are going to remember this match for a very long time. Losing 0:2, Ferdinando De Giorgi gave a chance substitutes, young players who completely reversed the match. Poland national team defeated Russia securing themselves a final victory in the event.

It is said that history tends to repeat itself. It was time for the LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017 and Poland vs. Serbia match at the PGE National Stadium. Everyone believed that just like three years ago, the Poles - with a great support of some 60000 fans - will defeat again Serbia. However, this time, the Serbs celebrated a 3:0 victory. In Gdańsk, Poland claimed two straight-set wins over Estonia and Finland. It meant that the white-and-red team got a spot in play-off to face there Slovenia, which kicked us off from the previous edition of the European Championship. Fans experienced a déjà vu in Tauron Arena Kraków, as the team led by Andrea Giani claimed a 3:0 shutout and ended the Polish journey at the LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017.

- We imagined our performance at this event totally different - said Jakub Kochanowski, the only member of the junior golden team, who joined the “seniors” for the LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017. - Obviously, the results does not reflect how hard we had worked and brings a disappointment. It is a team sport, not mathematics, so it is impossible to exactly transfer what we have worked on onto the court - explained Ferdinando De Giorgi. Shortly after the event, he was removed from the office. - Certainly this season has been marked by disappointments - said Michał Kubiak, the team captain of Poland at the end of the season.

Soon we will find out who will be named the new head coach of the white-and-red team. However, one thing is already sure, the new coach and the whole national team will face many challenges in the new year. At the 2018 World Championship, which will be held in Italy and Bulgaria, the Poles will be defending their title.

World League

Pool A1, 2-4 June, Pesaro
Poland - Brazil 3:2 (25:20; 20:25; 19:25; 25:22; 15:8)
Poland - Italy 3:1 (21:25; 25:17; 25:18; 25:23)
Poland - Iran 1:3 (25:18, 23:25; 23:25; 22:25)

Pool E1, 9-11 June, Varna
Poland - Bulgaria 2:3 (16:25; 25:20, 25:19; 23:25; 14:16)
Poland - Brazil 1:3 (21:25; 20:25; 25:17; 25:19
Poland - Canada 3:1 (25:21; 27:25; 20:25; 25:19)

Pool H1, 15-18 June, Katowice/Łódź
Poland - Russia 0:3 (22:25; 17:25; 21:25)
Poland - Iran 3:0 (25:17; 25:18; 25:22)
Poland - USA 1:3 (31:29; 17:25; 25:27; 20:25)

XV Hubert Jerzy Wagner Memorial, 11-13 August, Kraków

Poland - France 2:3 (25:22; 16:25; 20:25; 25:22; 13:15)
Poland - Canada 3:0 (36:34; 25:20; 26:24)
Poland - Russia 3:2 (16:25; 19:25; 25:20; 25:22; 15:12)

CEV Men's European Volleyball Championship LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017, 24 August – 3 September 2017

Pool phase, pool A, Warszawa/Gdańsk
Poland - Serbia 0:3 (22:25; 22:25; 20:25)
Poland - Finland 3:0 (25:23; 25:21; 25:19)
Poland - Estonia 3:0 (25:21; 26:24; 25:22)

Play-offs, Kraków
Poland - Slovenia 0:3 (21:25; 21:25; 19:25)

Poland national team for CEV Men's European Volleyball Championship LOTTO EUROVOLLEY POLAND 2017

Mateusz Bieniek
Rafał Buszek
Fabian Drzyzga
Łukasz Kaczmarek
Jakub Kochanowski
Dawid Konarski
Michał Kubiak
Bartosz Kurek
Bartłomiej Lemański
Grzegorz Łomacz
Artur Szalpuk
Łukasz Wiśniewski
Damian Wojtaszek
Paweł Zatorski

Coaching staff
Ferdinando De Giorgi – coach
Piotr Gruszka – assistant coach
Oskar Kaczmarczyk – 3rd coach
Piotr Pietrzak – physical preparation coach
Jan Sokal – doctor
Tomasz Pieczko – physiotherapist
Michał Roczek – physiotherapist
Iwo Wagner – statistician
Krzysztof Michalski – statistician
Andrzej Wołkowycki – team manager
Mariusz Szyszko – team spokesperson
Giuliano Bergamaschi – psychologist
Hubert Tomaszewski – manager