We had been waiting for a match like this from BTS Elektros Bolesławiec! On Saturday, January 14, the “Electricians” hosted the Wrocław guardsmen. In the first set, the team from the City of Ceramics quickly took a lead of several points and held on to it until the end. We won that set 25–19.
The visitors made a better start to the second set, but after a moment the Bolesławiec players took the initiative and moved eight points ahead of their rivals. Ultimately, we defeated the guardsmen 25–16 in that set.
The beginning of the third set was complete domination by the hosts. The Wrocław players scored their first point shortly after the scoreboard showed… 8–0. And although they tried to make up the deficit, they were unable to catch the Bolesławiec players, who won the set 25–16 and the entire match 3–0.
“The Christmas and New Year break did us good,” istotne.pl was told by Marcin Sobczyszyn, coach of the “Electricians.” “Finally, almost all the players are healthy and we can train in peace. In this match, our serve was very good; we pushed Gwardia away from the net. That was the key to victory. Wrocław are a team that can play volleyball and have made the biggest mental improvement. I am all the more pleased that we carried out what we had planned. I do not know whether the guardsmen came here overmotivated, or perhaps were convinced that since they had taken points from the top teams in the table, things would be easy, simple and pleasant against us.
Thanks to this victory, BTS Elektros returned to eighth place in the table. “I believe things will only get better from now on,” stresses the “Electricians’” coach. “Above all, this team needs experience. We must finally believe that we can win. We really have superb players with very high skills, but we were continually missing that proverbial finishing touch. Victories like this build the atmosphere within the team. I am also pleased that there were plenty of supporters and that they cheered us on so well, because we play for them. It is much better to play when the fans are with us.
“It is worth working as a volunteer for BTS for moments like these,” says Jacek Łuczkowski, head of the Bolesławiec Volleyball Association. “We were very worried about this match. Both we and our opponents knew perfectly well what we were playing for. On their websites, the guardsmen wrote that this was one of the most important matches of the season, one that would secure eighth place in the table. Such matches are very difficult. But our players withstood the pressure. That is pleasing, especially since we had lost our last matches and Gwardia had a run of victories. We lost to Zielona Góra, while they beat them. We are not falling into over-optimism and we are not judging our opponents; we are judging ourselves: we played a very good match in every aspect. The result was never in danger. In the third set, with the score at 5–0, Gwardia’s coach called his second timeout! Only a catastrophe could have deprived us of victory. We are also pleased with the supporters’ attitude. There was cheering, and after the match the fans congratulated our team standing up.
“We are happy with this victory,” continues the BTS president, “but from Monday we will already be thinking about our next opponent, AZS UAM Poznań.
BTS Elektros Bolesławiec: Mateusz Świerzewski, Wojciech Nitecki, Artur Sławnikowski (captain), Piotr Filistyński, Damian Śliwiński, Dariusz Tkaczuk, Filip Michalewski, Łukasz Mesjasz, Robert Walkowiak, Rafał Wójtowicz, Paweł Kozłowski, Kamil Razik (libero).
Gwardia Wrocław: Sebastian Kaczmarek, Daniel Fijałka, Jakub Intrys, Piotr Hernik, Roman Nawrocki, Łukasz Sternik, Łukasz Tobys, Karol Wesołowski, Tomasz Jajor, Stanisław Szymankiewicz (captain), Maksymilian Zwiech, Jakub Rugieł, Filip Lebioda (libero), Marcin Biela (libero).
Table after the 14th round:
- SPS Chrobry Głogów – 34 points
- MKST Astra Nowa Sól – 34 points
- KS Bielawianka Bester Bielawa – 28 points
- WKS Sobieski-Arena Żagań – 27 points
- KU AZS UAM Poznań – 22 points
- KU AZS Uniwersytetu Zielonogórskiego – 19 points
- MKS Olavia Oława – 18 points
- BTS Elektros Bolesławiec – 12 points
- KS Gwardia Wrocław – 11 points
- UKS Volley Żarów – 2 points.