The United States lost 25 points on their own errors in the first two sets but managed to rally past Poland in the remaining match at the FIVB World Grand Prix 2007 preliminaries in Rzeszow, Poland on Friday.
Poland started the first set in a good tempo, quickly building a three point advantage at the first technical timeout at 8-5. They extended to a maximum of 12-6 before the Americans put themselves together and started to get closer. After 18-16, the host team ran away with a series of points. While the U.S. made far too many errors and lost the first set at 25-19.
The second set was a continuation of great Polish game. Coach Marco Bonitta's girls started scoring points from good blocking and the accurate setting enabled the team to launch efficient attacks. Poles won the set at 25-18.
The beginning of the third set saw both teams fighting point for point. The efficiency of Polish reception started falling down rapidly while the U.S. women kept getting better on attacks before notching up the set at 25-17.
The Americans never looked back winning the remaining sets at 25-15, 15-12.
"Actually, we were not prepared enough for this match. Three days in Poland should be enough but it wasn't. We couldn't concentrate in the first two sets and made many errors. After the second set I just told my players to simply do what they can do, concentrate and play volleyball because I knew they could play better," American head coach Lang Ping said after the match.
The 12-team Grand Prix 2007 lasts for four weeks with a total of 65 matches. During the first, second and third weeks each team will play nine matches in total.
Preliminary rounds will be organized in Japan, Italy, Poland (first week), Macao of China, Hong Kong of China, Chinese Taipei (second week) and Russia.
The general ranking is decided by the total points gained by the teams in the preliminary matches. Host China plus the top five ranked teams will qualify to play the final in Ningbo, China, during Aug. 22-26 with a round robin system to decide the 2007 World Grand Prix Champion.
Source: Xinhua
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