Nikola Grbic with a special victory. Poles unstoppable!

Three victories under their belt and the leader of the VNL 2025 table. The Polish volleyball team approached the match against the Serbs in such a comfortable position to close the tournament in Xi'an, China.

Nations League: Poles better than Serbs. Special success for Grbić

The only match left for dessert was the match with the Serbs. The Serbian team is certainly not as dangerous as it was a few years ago. It is currently in a phase of thorough reconstruction and trying to find a way to re-enter the top league. Which, let's be honest, will not be easy, but this difficult mission was undertaken by the well-known coach from the PlusLiga, Gheorghe Cretu.

Much more important that day was the coach on the other side. Nikola Grbic was facing his countrymen. The Serb had won almost everything there was to win for local volleyball, whether in the colours of Yugoslavia, then Serbia and Montenegro, and finally Serbia. Currently, the Serbian team is additionally motivated for matches with the Poles. In the past, Grbic had coached his country's national team, with several players who still represent their colours.

So how did the match with an additional charge of emotions look like? The Polish coach could not use the captain Rafał Szymura to the full extent. The receiver, who played brilliantly during the tournament, suffered a minor thigh injury. In the match against Serbia, he entered the pitch, but mainly for tasks related to receiving and supporting the second line, rather than any offensive.

In his place, the receiving duo was filled by Artur Szalpuk and Michał Gierżot. In addition, Kewin Sasak on attack, Jan Firlej on point guard, Mateusz Poręba and the sensational debutant Jakub Nowak in the middle, and Maksymilian Granieczny on libero.

How did the match look? The first set started with 7:1, much of which was thanks to Sasak. Bogdanka's attacker LUK Lublin appeared in the service area and did again... what he had done in his previous performances. He simply broke the opponent's reception. The Poles eventually brought the lead to the end, although their opponents came closer to 21:19. In the end, the finish belonged to Poland, an effective attack from the left wing by Szalpuk and a certain 25:21.

The second set? This time, even from the start (8:8), after Nowak's ace, two points in reserve (11:8) and a key moment at 19:18, a block by Poręba, who played not only perfectly in this element, but also in the offensive. Finally, after a few actions, it was 24:19 and once again the Poles closed the set with success. And finally, the last game of the day. The Serbs pressed once more, one certainly cannot deny their ambition.

However, the Poles entered the decisive part with a 22:20 lead. Proving once again that although many of the names of the new faces in the squad may not be known to the wider group following international games, these characters will have to be learned... very quickly. Especially since Poland won the VNL 2025 tournament in a landslide and it looks like they have no intention of slowing down.

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In order: with the Netherlands 3:1, with Japan 3:1, with Turkey 3:0 and with Serbia 3:0. Hands are going up in applause, gentlemen!

VNL 2025: When is the next match of the Polish national volleyball team?

The Polish national team left China with a full four wins. This is the best possible opening for a team that has actually played together for the first time in such a line-up. However, as coach Grbić has shown, a properly balanced team can show great value on the pitch.

When are the next matches of the Poles in the VNL 2025? The next tournament of the Nations League will be played by the Poles in Hoffman Estates in Chicago (USA) on June 25-29. The first match promises to be extremely interesting right away, because there will be a clash of the champions and vice-champions of the world and Europe, i.e. the match Poland - Italy. This hit will be on June 25, at 7:30 PM Polish time.

The last tournament challenge will be playing in the Tri-City Ergo Arena. The tournament in Poland will take place on July 16-20.

Matches broadcast on the open Polsat channel, Polsat Sport 1 and online, for example via the Polsat Box Go platform.

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