Fans of beach volleyball in located about 120 km from Vienna Hartberg, will long remember great game of Katarzyna Kociołek and Jagoda Gruszczyńska at the European Championships U20. Violetta Bakoś’s players won a gold medal in a beautiful way. - We will remember the beautiful city and a tennis center located next to the Town Hall. The other three fields were spaced approximately 1.5 kilometers from one another. We played in the beautiful scenery in a 35-degree heat-what we will also remember for a very long time – said Violetta Bakoś.
Season 2012 is a very good one for players of the polish coach, Violetta Bakoś. At the beginning of July at the ECH U18 in Czech Republic, Kociołek and Gruszczyńska defeated Schneider / Schreiber (Germany) in the final with the result 2:0 (21:10, 21:18). A few days later, Katarzyna Kociołek and Karolina Baran lost with Dumbauskaite / Povilaityte 0:2 (18:21, 20:22) in the World Championships Final U19.
- Because of injury at the Championships of Poland Baran could not play in Hartberg. We have made changes but as it turned out, it did not affect the final result. The first match in the group has not been a good one, but as time went by the players improved. They have shown great bravery and great sport cleverness. They played a great tournament – said Violetta Bakoś.
In ten matches played in Hartberg Polish volleyball team lost only two. In the second round they lost with Russia pair 1:2. – We were missing a little good luck at the end. They won the first set, whereas in the second one there was a match point. However, this result did not affect the final result. From this point the game of the polish players was excellent. In the final against the German players Anika Krebs and Jelena Wlk they quickly defeated their rivals. Worth remembering is the fact that our athletes are 17 years, and silver medalist are 19 - ended Violetta Bakoś.
Matches of the Women’s European Championships U20 in beach volleyball
Final
Kociołek / Gruszczyńska POL [3] - Krebs / Wlk GER [4] 2:0 (21:13, 21:16)
Semi-final
Dumbauskaite / Povilaityte LTU [13] - Kociołek / Gruszczyńska POL [3] 0:2 (18:21, 18:21)
for promotion to the Semi-Final
Kociołek / Gruszczyńska POL [3] - Betschart / Eiholzer SUI [18] 2:0 (21:16, 21:18)
Play-off
Soria / Brun ESP [7] - Kociołek / Gruszczyńska POL [3] 0:2 (10:21, 12:21)
Play-off
Dostálová / Tresnakova CZE [6] - Kociołek / Gruszczyńska POL [3] 0:2 (13:21, 18:21)
Second round
Dabizha / Gorbunova RUS [2] - Kociołek / Gruszczyńska POL [3] 2:1 (20:22, 24:22, 15:12)
First round
Kociołek / Gruszczyńska POL [3] - Maaseide / Kjølberg NOR [16] 2:0 (21:13, 21:8)
Group C
Kociołek / Gruszczyńska POL [3] - Facco / Cavestro ITA [10] 2:0 (21:17, 21:15)
