Quarter and out

1st October 2011

Poland’s volleyball ladies failed to emulate the men’s team who recently took bronze and exited the European Championships at the quarter-final stage, losing in straight sets to Serbia. The loss was all the more disappointing because the team had blazed their way through the group stages without losing a set. In the quarter final, though, it wasn’t until the third set that they showed any signs of resistance, but it was too little, too late.

“Block the Poles!” the Serbian sports papers had demanded in the morning and, sure enough, it’s exactly what the Serbs did. Their defence read the Polish attacks and managed six successful blocks in the first set compared to none for the Pol ...