FULL 3rd SET: Türkiye vs Poland I CEV EuroVolley 2023 Quarterfinals I Christmas Special

Let's have a look at the liberos. Love that. 71% excellent and positive reception on Turquoise's side. Not so good on Stencil's side. Doing well in the digs though. She has 10-7. But we don't often get a chance to see a lot out of the liberos. They kind of go unspoken, the unsung heroes as it were for the volleyball match. But they can play a huge role in the outcome of a match. Really that first touch, the most important in terms of running an offense. Turquoise with the serve to get us underway here in set number three. And Poland, shots fired through the middle to start. I like that lefty serve from Jansu, but it's not enough to slow down that big Polish middle. She's been on fire. 11 points now. Five from the block, 60% in attack. Volos continues to feed her. Speaking of feeding, the Black Wolf having a feeding frenzy on the outside. Kattekort going just off the hands of Stasiak there. Good response from Poland. They're going high hands on the outside of that rundown from Volos. She's not giving up on a ball, which is pretty much out of play. Puts up something hittable for Lukasik. And the MVP of the Polish Cup 2019 delivers. Turquoise doing the same. Well, we haven't seen a whole lot of offensive action out of the middle blocker Dara Gunes, but she was the best middle of the Champions League in 2023. Poland with their backs against the wall. They must win this set. Lukasik goes again for Kattekort. There's the ball to Vargas. And just like clockwork, Vargas delivers. Poland's doing a good job of finding Kattekort in the reception. She's technically the weak link in the chain, but she's been handling it so well. And then Vargas just coming in to clean it up. Poland with a one-point advantage here in the beginning of the third set. Turquoise looking for the floor. Not yet. Corner look gets Vargas. Rolling. Well picked up there by Rozanski. Allowing her defense to play again. Vargas doing the same. Question is, was there a touch on this last ball right there? And the balladin thinks perhaps. But will we have a challenge? No. 5-3. Kattekort again with perfection to the setter. So much so that Jansu can find Ede-Erdem Dundar with a quick flick of the wrist, beating Korniluk in the block. Again, that's the beauty of not overusing any one roll. Turkey is doing a good job of sparingly using the middle. So they just kind of sneak up on the blockers when they do need them. Rozanski sneaking up on the block on that one. Catching the hands of Jansu, the smaller blocker. Kattekort with a high ball, goes cross, and she gets it. Have a look at the angle on that. Just underneath the blockers, finding Rozanski, who does a good job to get the ball off the floor, keeps it in play. Just out of reach of her setter. 5-6. Turkey is still in this set. Quick to the outside, there's the rip. Stysiak from all areas of the court. She's been a big go-to for Poland, continues to do so. Great speed there from Vola. She can see how fast it leaves her hands, basically beating the blockers with that speed. Two-point advantage for Poland. Dwindles down to one. Jansu, the best setter of the Champions League 2022 and 2023, goes back to serve. Volos feeds up the middle, and that's the right decision. Korniluk finding some angles all over the place. As soon as that ball comes into Volos, you just know she's wanting to use her middle early. She's already established it, and that's kind of freeing up some other attackers. Jansu to the outside. Catecourt with the tip, and that falls. Poland caught sleeping on the tip, and that's a tough serve as well. Catecourt not in a position to swing big on it somehow. Poland can't respond. Still up by one, well left. Prudikir playing well, but one of their problems sometimes might be they do tend to over-rev a little bit. We're going to keep that in check, as Poland now with a two-point advantage. Vargas, tips, Volos out. High ball to the outside. Scramble play. Here comes Baladin. Rips off the hands. Kept in play for Poland. The pipe comes. Another out-of-system play. Vargas steps back in to swing, but the blocker is in a good position. Magdalena Jurczyk sees that Vargas has passed that ball, had to step out to find an approach. Didn't have a lot of space to work with, so a good cutoff there by the Polish blockers. Poland has given up 13 errors so far, a lot of them from the serve. Here goes another one from the front court, though. Ziziak with a wide-open channel down the line. All the blockers have crept in. No touch called, no challenge called. Turkey back to within one. Free ball coming through the middle. Hubertem Dundar to swing, comes back on Turkey's side. Outside, Baladin calling immediately for the touch. Looking pretty confident, too. Oh, so close. Polosh says, nope. Looks like touch was called, so 10-10. There's the tip. Turkey picks it up. Vargas tight to the net, well used. Gets some bodies on the floor, ball to the outside. Lukasik angles for days. Lukasik does really well to get past those blockers there. Everyone in the gym knew the ball was going to her. 11-10. Out of court with a tight ball. Ball kept in play. Vargas to swing. Somehow, Turkey convert an uncomfortable situation into a point for themselves. Shantzou, knowing she's backcourt, she stays down but does slow down that overpass so it can't just be swung straight to the floor. That's a clever move. Vargas back at the line. Ball to the outside. Underneath the blocking arms, Rozhanski. Again, those angles she's finding inside Eder and Dundar's inside arm. Change of setter on Turkey's side. Arif Sahin is in. And that ball is two. Rozhanski continues to power through. One time goes cross extreme, next time goes line extreme. That's the power of a great swing. Back to a two-point lead for Poland. While unlucky, it seems as though every time Poland kind of gets a little bit of rhythm, something breaks that rhythm. Whether it be an error at the net, an error in the serve, this can't seem to get their momentum going in the right direction. Turkey with a tough serve. Shantzou stepping in. There's the roll. High ball outside, Katakurts gonna tip. Gets Volosh on the floor. Rozhanski into hands. Gets another chance. Finds the deep court in the corner. Credit to Poland for continuing to play, recycling the ball, going again and again, finding better angles, better opportunities. Katakurt is in, and so is Vargas with a little look through the net to finish it off. Well, it's a tough serve there from Volosh, but nothing's gonna slow down Vargas, especially from the pipe. She loves all that attacking space she has. The middle blocker captain with a tough serve and a one-handed dig. High ball outside, Katakurt's gonna rip. Yes, she is. Goes into outer space, doesn't find her foot on the landing. This rocket ship has taken off, and it's back to 14-14. Incidentally, the number of each of the captains, Volosh and Dundar, both wearing that number. There's the quick ball through the middle, and the block is good. Gunes, reading the situation like a book. Corner look, going straight into the big arms of Sera Gunes, who's played in back and forth since 2017. The highest level in the world. Cross court goes Kolan, but it is no good. A couple of points flip-flopping back to Turkey's side. The balance has shifted again. Before these three points, we were leading. We were leading. So it means that we are doing something better, no? Try to keep the high ball set close to the net that we have to try to score, exactly like you did right now. Go to the corner. If you feel that you can go sharper, finish your shot. But this is the way. I can accept this. Keep playing by side out. Well, from the perspective of Poland, there's still a lot of volleyball left to play. But if you're a Turkish fan, things are looking good for a three-set sweep. Let's see how it plays out. Poland to the outside, and another big, tough block. Sera Gunes, getting in the match. A monster block from the middle blocker, diving her hands over, cutting off the angles from straight back down. Best blocker in the Olympics in 2021. Great play by Poland. That ball looking like it was done. Difficult serve, getting them out of system. Really tough serve from Dundar. Great play by Poland, still down by two. Into the mix. The MVP of the Polish league in 2023. Poland leaving a wide open channel for Vargas. Zero blockers on the top point score of the match. I have questions about this. Have a look at that channel, wide open. She'll take it. 18-15. Another good block. Chance again for Poland. Ball's kept alive. Vargas to the outside, into the block, recycled. Another high ball. Vargas this time, switching it up down the line. And Turkey looking really comfortable, even when they're uncomfortable. A bump set from Vargas. The roll into the block, the recycle, chance again to swing. And that is why Turkey are so I just wonder if Stefano Lavrini believes it himself. Poland just need a couple of points. We've seen big comebacks from teams before, but when you've got a player like Vargas on the other side, 22 points at the moment. She has been so tough to slow down, especially when Poland forget she's on the court. Leave her wide open. She has been serving really tough, getting Poland out of system. So a couple of errors are going to creep in there. No surprise. Still a good lead. Poland catching up down by three. Vargas to tip. Well, we haven't seen a whole lot of that and neither has Poland. And that's why they're all on their heels and just able to watch that ball fall. That is the most beautiful of tips I think I've seen in a long time, especially the middle blockers just served. That's exactly where to put it down the line. Cheeky point for Poland, backed up by an ace serve. Turkey, an ace serve for Katakurts. The Black Wolf strikes again. Have a look at that, targeting the sideline. Not much she can do. That was for another one. Well, that's an adamant response out of Jurczyk. Polish Super Cup winner in 2023 has a wide open space there. Volosh sees it, feeds it up. Poland having to find some responses here. Galkowska into the mix. Ternewska back to serve. Eyeball outside and the balladyn goes off the hands. Chance again for Poland, looking for some touches. Not down yet. And another tip, another way to score. Turkey has been finding every single weak chain in the link. Weak link in the chain of Poland's armor. And now it seems to be these tips. A couple of players diving, but the miscommunication gets Turkey one step closer to the finish line. Quick ball through the middle, stays in play. Very close to getting that back over the net. Ravarini running out of options. 18 serving, 22. Jurczyk finds the balladyn, quick ball to the middle. Good response on the right side, but it's not enough. Turkey creeping ever closer. Defense there from Stencil. There's the high ball behind, but the angle too much to find the court. Vargas at the line. Already one ace. Takes a bit of speed off it, as you can see, prefers control and relies on her blockers. And that's what it does. Shutting down the line, proving setters can block too. Just about taking your position and coach Santorelli is loving it. One more point to get it done. Match point 24-18, Turkey. And Vargas from the end line goes for an ace. Yes, she does. 106 kilometers. That will do nicely. What an incredible win for Turkey. They deserved every moment of it. Poland putting up a fight, but this Turkish squad are looking on fire at the moment. Coming off of that BNL win just a few weeks ago, and they're looking for another W here in this Eurovolley competition. There's how it was done. 25-23, 25-22, and 25-18. A three-set sweep for Turkey. Look at this match point. An ace serve down the middle on the libero, and Vargas can celebrate with her team after a fantastic performance. From head to toe, this Turkish squad is looking completely in shape, on fire, in form, and ready to take on Italy on Friday.