Poland outplays USA at VNL

KATOWICE, Poland, June 1, 2019 - Aleksander Sliwka scored 20 points to lead reigning back-to-back world champions Poland to their second victory of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League by defeating 2018 bronze medalists USA 3-2 (17-25, 34-32, 26-28, 25-23, 15-9) at the Spodek Arena in Katowice on Saturday.

Dawid Konarski and Michal Kubiak contributed 15 and 14 points in the victory while Mateusz Bieniek added 10.

Torey Defalco finished with 20 points for USA followed with Garrett Muagututia with 19. Kyle Russell added 15 and Mitchel Stahl had 12, including two aces and four blocks.

For both teams it was the second match of the 2019 campaign with Poland defeating Australia and USA losing to 2016 Olympic champions Brazil on Friday.

Tonight's match between Poland and the United States was a replay of a 2018 Men's World Championship semifinal. Poland prevailed in five sets en route to their second world title in a row.

The two teams had met 38 times in world level major tournaments going into this match, with both teams winning 19 times.

In last year's Volleyball Nations League the United States beat Poland in straight sets in both the preliminary round and the final round.