Jastrzębski Węgiel was in the top four of the Champions League for the second time in a row and for the fourth time in its history. This year, the hawks have won all six group stage matches and two quarter-final matches against VfB Friedrichshafen. Now on the way of Marcelo Mendez’s wards to the final is the current vice-champion of Turkey Halkbank Ankara.
Halkbank, who is the opponent of Yastrzhebsky Vengel in the final match, defeated the Italian champion Kuchin Lube Civitanova in the quarter-finals of the Champions League. The Orange’s Turkish rivals are well known and the last time the two teams faced each other was in the Champions League group stage in the 2019/2020 season. At that time, volleyball players who played in PlusLiga won twice. In addition, the two teams faced each other three times in 2014. First, twice in the group stage, and then in the final tournament organized by the Turks at home in Ankara. The Polish team lost the last match.
Thriller at the end of the first set
The match was very even from the very beginning, both teams did not avoid errors on the pitch. With the score 4:4, the Oranges recorded a series of four points in a row and took the lead 8:4. The Turks were chasing the result, but Tomas Fornal, with his sophisticated game, knocked this idea out of their heads.
From the very beginning of this match, Jakub Popivchak also felt very good, he was very effective in defense and saved a lot of difficult balls. At the end of this set, Jastrzembski Wengel had a five-point advantage - 19:14, which he did not give up to the end, although the Turks were allowed to a series of four points in a row thanks to Abdel-Aziz, who torpedoed the opponents with his serve and attacks from the second line. The first set ended with the score 25:22.
Yastrzebski Wengel won the second set
The second set started with Jastrzębski Węgiel leading 2-0, but it was quickly squandered and a moment later Halkbank took a 6-9 lead thanks to a three-point win in a row. Marcelo Mendez immediately asked for time to break this series of opponents. The timeout brought the expected result, because M’Baye scored two points, and Kleveno another one, thanks to which the Orange took the lead. In addition, in the next action, the Frenchman blocked the opponent and it was the Plus League volleyball players who took the lead 10:9.
The second half of this set was very interesting, and Yastrzebski Wengel returned to what he was at the beginning of the first set, that is, effective defense, good blocking and effective attack. Thanks to this, Orange took the lead 18:14. However, even with a four-point lead, the Plus League volleyball players could not be sure that they would hold it to the end. The ending was extremely exciting. Halkbank broke away from rivals by one point (19:20). Fortunately, the Turks did not avoid mistakes and Nimir Abdelaziz was not as effective as in the first set. The second set ended with a score of 25:23 in favor of the Polish team, and Tomasz Fornal scored the decisive point, pushing the ball on a triple block.
Awakening Halkbank Ankara
The third set was not a formality at all, because these wins can significantly affect the outcome of a draw. This time the game was better started by Halkbank Ankara, who quickly took the lead 5:8 and then increased it (6:10). Something broke in the game of Jastrzębski Węgiel volleyball players, to which Marcelo Mendez decided to react by taking a break when the score was 7:12.
Unfortunately, this did not bring the expected result, because immediately after the timeout, Boyer was blocked, and then the Turks filed an ace. Unfortunately, the “orange” could not make up for this seven-point advantage. Halkbank Ankara won at 16:25 and got into contact.
Jastrzębski Węgiel got his way and won the fourth set!
The fourth set was a test of the mentality of the Jastrzębski Węgiel volleyball team. Fortunately, it was at a very high level, because in the beginning, Marcelo Mendez’s wards took a three-point advantage (5:2), which they later kept (9:6), and then increased (11:7). As in the previous set, the Poles were helpless, so in this game the Turks could not do anything, as evidenced by the powerful block of Tomas Fornal on Nimir Abdel-Aziz (14:9). The final was very exciting, but Jastrzembski Wengel won - 25:22. The Polish team won the match 3:1.
In the rematch, Yastrzebski Wengel will face Halkbank Ankara. The match is scheduled for Wednesday, April 5 at 8:30 pm. The live broadcast will take place on TV on Polsat Sport and online on the Internet on a streaming service containing this channel, such as Polsat Box Go.
Source: Wprost
I have worked in the news industry for over 10 years. I have been an author at Daily News Hack for the past 1 year. I mostly cover sports news, but I also have a keen interest in current affairs and politics. In my spare time, I enjoy playing tennis and spending time with my family.
