Yellow Tigers rout Poland to move on to Group 2 final match

In what is their first appearance in the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix, the “Yellow Tigers” from Belgium claimed a spot in the final match of the Group 2 coming up on Saturday after routing hosts Poland in three straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-15) in the first semi-final match played on Friday afternoon at Hala Widowiskowo – Sportowa in Koszalin.

In what is their first appearance in the FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix, the “Yellow Tigers” from Belgium claimed a spot in the final match of the Group 2 coming up on Saturday after routing hosts Poland in three straight sets (25-19, 25-16, 25-15) in the first semi-final match played on Friday afternoon at Hala Widowiskowo – Sportowa in Koszalin. 

On Saturday they will be playing the winners of the second semi-final starring the Netherlands and Puerto Rico for the right to travel to Tokyo and join the “big” Final Six scheduled for August 20-24. If they do so, the “Yellow Tigers” will get one step closer to emulate Serbia, the last rookies to claim a World Grand Prix medal when they settled for bronze in their debut season in 2011. 

• The match broke the tie between the two teams in the competition. Poland had recorded a 3:1 victory in Lima before Belgium responded with a straight win last week in Doetinchem (NED). After this semi-final, Belgium lead the way with two victories to Poland’s one in World Grand Prix action. 

• This was Poland’s third consecutive home defeat in the World Grand Prix after last year’s matches with Germany and Japan. 

• Once again Lise Van Hecke played a leading role in Belgium’s victory. The top scorer from the Intercontinental Round with 180 points added yet another 25 to her personal tally. 

• Hosts Poland will try to finish their World Grand Prix campaign by at least seizing the third place that will be at stake on Saturday. 

Both teams started the match very concentrated and made very few mistakes. The Belgians took the lead at the first technical time-out (8-4) as the Poles briefly lost focus. At 14-11 for the guests, the audience witnessed an extremely long rally, with some great digs and spikes, which was eventually won by Poland. The hosts kept the momentum and got closer (15-14 for Belgium). Nevertheless, the second technical break once again broke their rhythm and the Belgians jumped ahead to a five-point advantage at 19-14. The hosts were unable to keep the pace of their opponents, despite coach Piotr Makowski making some substitutions (18-year old Malwina Smarzek replaced starting opposite Katarzyna Zaroslinska) and lost the set 19-25. 

The first stage of set 2 was much closer than the previous one, the Belgians were again on top, but the difference before the first technical time-out was not more than two points. However, after the break, the guests once more scored a series of unanswered points and jumped ahead (12-7, then 15-8). They remained ahead throughout the set and easily took it by 25-16. 

The third set was from the beginning controlled by the Belgians. Marshalled by their best scorer Lise Van Hecke, they maintained a margin of at least three points (8-5, 10-7, 13-8). Poland was helpless as the opponents were better in every element. The set was a display of the Belgian domination and the proof that they deserved the spot in the final match on Saturday. They took the set 25-15 with an ace by Van Hecke and the entire match 3-0.