Wilfredo Leon hit hard at the start! The Ukrainians couldn’t believe it
Wilfredo Leon opened the Tuesday (i.e. September 15) match between Poland and Ukraine at the Men’s Volleyball Championship 2026 with a great series of plays. It was a real show of a volleyball player!
The Poles have won three matches 3-0 each – against Portugal, Israel and North Macedonia. The clash with Ukraine is a completely different level of competition. The Poles won the first game after 24 minutes with a score of 25:20.
Interestingly, they started the set against Ukraine with an 8:1 lead. Wilfredo Leon did great on serve.
Wilfredo Leon with a show at the start of the match! What a series against the Ukrainians
The receiver of the Polish national team is one of the best, or maybe even the best, server in the world. Ukraine, led by experienced coach Raul Lozano, quickly realized this. The Ukrainians had to make up for the loss with a score of 1:8, which was certainly not easy, but… doable in the case of the rivals of the European champions.
Leon’s three service aces were answered later in the set by the Ukrainian number 1, Oleh Płotnicki. He plays every day in the Italian Perugia, where he was a clubmate – in the past – with Leon, and currently, among others. with Kamil Semeniuk, added two aces in the first game for his team.
Although the Ukrainians managed to equalize the match, the final score belonged to the Poles. From 21:19 to 25:20 – there was no longer any doubt who was better in this part of the match.
ME 2026: The Polish national team defends the title. Where and when to watch Polish matches?
It is worth recalling that Poland has won gold in the European Men’s Volleyball Championship twice in its history. Interestingly, in both cases we are talking about successes achieved in the 21st century. Poles won their first title in 2009. The second one, relatively recently, in the previous edition of the Old Continent championship, i.e. AD 2023 – in the final, defeating the Italians in three sets.
The only thing left for the Poles to play in the group stage is a match against the world runners-up, Bulgarians. This meeting is scheduled for Wednesday (i.e. September 16) at 6:00 p.m.
The four best teams from each group at the tournament will advance to the 1/8 finals.
Matches of the Men’s European Volleyball Championship are shown on Polsat open air (Poland’s match) and Polsat Sport. On the Internet, you can use the Polsat Box Go platform.
