At stake was first place in Group B, as Thailand, who had beaten the Dominican Republic 3-2 earlier, had four wins and 10 points. So the team that was better in last Saturday’s game remained ahead, regardless of the size of the victory. The start belonged to our rival, who quickly rebounded to five points (8-3). The Polish women seemed tense, they didn’t take the serve well. However, the nerves took over and began to make up for the losses. Ebrar Karakurt was ineffective, and Agnieszka Korneluk was doing brilliantly on our side. When Magda Stysiak and Olivia Różański supported her, the advantage began to decline rapidly. And after a series of superb serves from Różański starting at 5:18 p.m., it was 10:18 p.m.

It wasn’t easy, however, as Turkey scored four more points, and Meryem Boz, who sent hard licks, was largely down to it. When former Atom volleyball player Trefl Sopot finally made a mistake, our team took the lead 23:22, and Różański and Stysiak recorded the next points after the counterattacks, and Poland started the match perfectly. match. Opposite was the experienced team with Karakurt, one of the best strikers in the world. In the second set, out of 11 attacks, she scored seven points, and her team began to play better in the block (four points). White and red managed to recover from a small defeat (20:20 after Weronika Szlagowska’s block), but the final game belonged to their rivals. They were lucky because, for example, they scored an ace when the ball caught the tape and fell on the court.

The game was very even, because in the third game the highest point difference was right at the end. In the fourth, the Poles bounced back at 9:5 after a counterattack used by Różański. Our volleyball players defended very well and Maria Stenzel was incredible, as was Stysiak. After his penalty for Karakurt and his counterattack it was 14:9, and after the service ace 16:10. As the rivals regained two points, Różański was stopped in spectacular fashion by blocking Erdem (18:12). The whites and reds played very well and whenever it got nervous they showed the best volleyball. In the fourth set, they had four blocks, three of them in the kills, with Korneluk taking the final point, stopping Hande Baladin.

The tie-break started well for our team, but with the score 4: 4 something happened to our volleyball players. The Turkish women scored four more points and the Polish women got nervous. For a while, because in an instant they started to fight, and the results came quickly. Korneluk blocked Zehra Gunes (8:10) and there was a controversy because the referees did not notice that after Różański’s attack the ball rubbed against the Turkish volleyball player’s fingers. It’s a shame because it could have been a turning point. Unfortunately, later our players ruined two games and Turkey had three games. She used the first.

Turkey took first place in Group B and Poland came fourth, behind Turkey, Thailand and the Dominican Republic. Now all Group B teams will travel to Łódź, where the second group stage will begin on October 4.

Poland – Turkey 2: 3 (25:22, 23:25, 22:25, 25:18, 11:15)

Poland: Wołosz 1, Różański 21, Korneluk 19, Stysiak 30, Górecka 3, Witkowska 3, Stenzel (libero) and Szlagowska 1, Wenerska, Gałkowska 4, Alagierska-Szczepaniak

Turkey: Ozbay 2, Sahin 12, Gunes 8, Karakurt 22, Baladin 13, Erdem 15, Akoz (libero) and Boz 1, Ismailoglu, Cebecioglu 2, Aydin

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