Serbia at the Top of Pool A. Poland, Ukraine and Belgium continue their Journey
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The last match day in Ghent brought us a direct matchup for the second spot in the pool standings between Ukraine and Poland and a second match anticipated by everyone between hosts Belgium and Pool leaders, the undefeated team of Serbia.
Given what Ukraine had shown in its previous matches, Poland knew that they needed to go all out if they were to secure a very important second place in the pool standings, and so they did. Good on all sides of the court, Poland limited Ukraine to under 20 points (25-17) in the first set, but seemed to forget how resilient the Ukrainians had been in their previous pool matches.
With nothing to lose, the Ukrainians dug deep to find the energy to match that of Stysiak and her teammates, claiming the second set and reigniting the race for second place. However, the following two sets were the Magdalena Stysiak show. Poland’s number 9 went on a rampage, leading Poland to winning the remaining sets, securing second spot while scoring a very impressive 35 pts, the highest from a player in a single match at the CEV EuroVolley 2023 so far.
The second match of the day, last one in the lovely host of Ghent, saw the crowd favourites Belgium go up against Serbia. Despite knowing not only that both teams are already qualified for the next round, but also their position in the pool standings, the crowd was on its feet for every successful Belgian play.
It was all about Serbia on the court however. Guidetti’s team never held back and cruised to an impressive win in just three sets, holding Belgium to only 13 points in each of the first two sets.
