WORLD no. 1 Poland showed its might and struck down Brazil’s formidable frontline game on Friday for a 29-31, 21-25, 25-20, 25-20, 15-13 victory in Week 3 of the Volleyball Nations League men’s tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Polish spikers’ smart defensive moves in the fourth set disrupted the world no. 3 Brazilian side’s offensive schemes that led to a series of errors, handing Poland its second consecutive win this week.
Cuban import Wilfredo Leon Venero, hailed as last year’s Best Outside Spiker in the FIVB World Championship, led Poland’s defense with 22 points on 20 spikes, a block and an ace.
“We pushed them to make those kinds of mistakes. So, this is volleyball, sometimes you play your best, sometimes you have your difficult moments,” said the 31-year-old Venero, who joined the Polish squad in 2019, after playing for the Cuban national team for five years.
Poland, which picked up its eighth overall win in 10 games, started pulling away with an ace from teammates Bartosz Bednorz’s service and Norbert Huber’s pair of blocks.
As Poland tightened up their defense at the net, Brazil fell into several miscues as the Poles moved away, 14-9.
They then began nursing a five-point edge, 16-11, off Venero’s pair from the middle of the frontline.
Alan Souza knocked in 17 points for the Brazilians, who now have a 7-4 card and fell to fifth place.
VNL 2021 MVP Bartosz Kurek had 10, while Marcin Janusz hit 17 for Poland, which solidified its inclusion in the top 8.
The 8-team Grand Finals are set from July 19 to 24 in Gdansk City.
