After a 60-year break, the Polish volleyball team will play in the quarter-finals of the world championship. In this one, they will face Serbia, and the match will be played in Gliwice, which is the host of this phase.

There was no calculation in this match: we had to win to be happy with fourth place, and if we score three points we will move to third place and in the quarter-finals in Gliwice we will face the United States avoiding Serbia. Our team didn’t handle the pressure very well, as the game against Canada showed. She didn’t start as well as she could with the Germans, which is why the game was choppy in the first set. Magdalena Stysiak and Olivia Różański did very well (she was 83% efficient), but the rivals were even better. In all offensive statistics, they were above the Poles, but in the end they did not resist. With the result of 23:23, Hanna Orthmann first made a mistake in the attack, and Marie Scholzle missed the last action.

The second set wasn’t our best performance either, but with the 2:15 pm result in the stands, you could see cheers. 200m further on – at Sport Arena – Canada beat the Dominican Republic 3-2, meaning Poland qualified for the quarter-finals regardless of the outcome of the game against the Germans. However, there was something to fight for, because it is better to play with the Americans than with the Serbs. Our volleyball players didn’t play well and the attack had the biggest problems. The troubles started with the acceptance of the game, then it was difficult for Joanna Wołosz to deceive the German. The result was no less than seven blocked attacks, after which the rivals scored points. And because they avoided unforced errors, there was a draw.

The whites and reds were still tired, luckily they had Różąński in the team. Our Friday host had a worse day, but on Saturday everything she touched was turned into gold, meaning points. At one point, Wołosz aimed almost every ball at him. Różański emerged as leaders and drew her friends in and Poland gained an eight point advantage. Klaudia Alagierska-Szczepaniak also gave a great change and Poland took a 2:1 lead.

There was still one set missing for third place. But our rivals had no intention of making it easy for us, even if they could at most jump over Thailand. It was difficult for the Polish team to score points. After a few mistakes in attack, the Germans led 19:16, but the Poles surged again, and they were inspired by Maria Stenzel’s perfect defensive play. And from a three-point loss, the 21:19 lead grew to a two-point lead. In short … But then the representatives who had played in previous matches – Stysiak and Korneluk remembered themselves. Poland had two matches, but the Germans defended, and when they took the lead they proved more accurate and led to a tie-break. In there, our team was better at the start and at the end, when they scored five points from 10:10, and it was a great joy. A big dream has come true and after 60 years Poland are among the eight best teams in the world!

The quarter-finals of the world championship will be played on Tuesday – the Polish national team will perform at Arena Gliwice, where they will face Serbia.

Poland – Germany 3: 2 (26:24, 25:20, 25:18, 26:28, 26:29, 15:10)

Poland: Wołosz 3, Różański 19, Korneluk 18, Stysiak 31, Górecka 6, Witkowska 2, Stenzel (libero) and Szlagowska 1, Gałkowska, Wenerska, Fedusio, Alagierska-Szczepaniak 10

Germany: Kastner 1, Janiska 18, Weitzel 10, Alsmeier 17, Orthmann 26, Scholzel 9, Pogany (libero) and Strubbe, Emonts 2, Drewniok 1, Hippe, Stigrot