IBB Polonia London victorious in Newcastle

It was the return to Super League games on 19th March, and the opposition for IBB Polonia was Newcastle Staffs away. The team travelled to the game with a threadbare squad, and in a match with great volleyball on both sides of the net, it ended with a win for the Londoners 2-3.

It was a spectacular start of IBB Polonia London in the Saturday encounter and in the first set the rhythm was totally established. An improvement by the opposition caused some trouble for IBB Polonia but the end of the set showed a strong finish and an advantage of several points. Sets 3 and 4 were very even with neither team gaining an advantage, but Staffs sneaked both sets by a slender margin. The fifth set started with an advantage for the northerners, but IBB Polonia London clawed their way back and took control towards the end of the match. The final result was 2-3 (18:25; 21:25; 28:26; 28:26; 10:15) in favor of guests.

Coach Niski did not have all of his cards at his disposal as the match took place at the same time as the National Team training weekend and some of the Pro Volley Academy players had received the call-up for the Under 18 squad, and so a number of the team travelled to Kettering on Saturday morning. Two more players competed against Newcastle and then travelled to Kettering for training. The camp is an important event as there are several dozen players of whom a team will be selected to travel to Italy to represent England abroad. 

After a long break, IBB Polonia returns to their home venue; Saturday’s game is one of the modern classics. Richmond Docklands are the opponents and it should be a great game for spectators. The most recent match ended in a five sets with some top class volleyball on show. In addition many ex-players from IBB Polonia fill the Richmond Docklands team sheet this season. The game takes place on 26th March at Northolt High School at 4.30pm. More details will be available on Facebook soon.

„The game was very intense from both sides. We started like a steam engine, but Newcastle started to put some good points together and we were chasing from the start of the second set. Thanks to some spectacular defence and finishing counter attacks, we took a 2-0 lead. The best aspect of our performance was our teamwork: we were able to survive tough moments in the tie break where we were losing by three points. The missing players definitely affected us, but those that played certainly passed the test. I am overjoyed, that as a club and as individuals our youngsters had the chance to show themselves in a high level game in England and I hope soon in Europe” said captain of IBB Polonia London, Bartosz Kisielewicz.