The great return of Maria Stenzel. Unbelievable what Stefano Lavarini came up with
Polish volleyball players started their last tests before the Olympic Games. After a long absence, we finally saw Maria Stenzel on the court, who played out of character. Stefano Lavarini surprised.
After the Hubert Wagner Memorial, Polish volleyball players will head to Gdańsk, where they will play the last friendly tournament before the Olympic Games. The women’s team led by Stefano Lavarini will also head to the most important event of the four-year period. Before that, however, the white and reds will play their matches at the Agata Mróz-Olszewska Memorial.
A great comeback to the Polish national team
This year, instead of club teams, the event will feature national teams. This year, Poland, Serbia, France, and the Dominican Republic will compete. The first to compete was the last of the aforementioned teams. Earlier, volleyball players from Serbia and France competed. This match ended with a score of 3:0 for the volleyball players from the Balkans.
The Poland-Dominican Republic match started at 6:30 p.m. The Polish national team started the match very well, with the strongest line-up. Stefano Lavarini’s team took the lead 3:0 right from the start. At one point, the Polish national team jumped ahead by six points (9:3).
At 17:12, Maria Stenzel appeared on the court, coming on for Martyna Łukasik. Let us recall that the nominal libero missed the beginning of the national team season due to appendicitis. Despite this, Stefano Lavarini believes in her and decided to take this volleyball player to the Olympic Games. After a while, the player returned to the reserve square, but it was still very good to see her on the court. Our players did not give up this advantage until the end and triumphed in the first set 25:18, with the decisive point being scored by… Martyna Łukasik.
Agata Mróz-Olszewska Memorial: Polish women crushed the Dominican Republic
The second set was more even (3:2 and 4:4). Later, however, our players started to get going (8:4 and 12:7). At 16:30, Stefano Lavarini again replaced Łukasik with Stenzel. Right after the change, De la Cruz aimed at this player, who unfortunately did not pass it precisely to Wołosz. A moment later, the Italian made a return change. All because the score became dangerous – 19:18. At the key moment, the white and reds were saved by a block, which helped us win 25:19.
The Dominican team started the third set with an ace. Quite unexpectedly, their opponents jumped three points ahead of the Poles – 3:6. Fortunately, our block started working again. Thanks to that and good defense, we regained the lead (13:12). Ultimately, this set ended with the score 25:21, and the whole match 3:0.
In the next matches, the Polish team will face the French team (Thursday, July 18 at 6:30 p.m.) and the Serbian team (Friday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m.). The Agata Mróz-Olszewska Memorial is the last test before the Olympic Games. The most important event of the four-year period will start on July 27. The final of the games is scheduled for August 11.
