2018 Memorial of Hubert Jerzy Wagner
- August 24th-26th, 2018
- Tauron Arena, Krakow, Poland
- Teams: Poland, France, Russia, Canada
- Official website
- TV: Polsat Sports and Polsat Sport Extra
The Hubert Jerzy Wagner Memorial is perhaps men’s volleyball’s most prestigious friendly competition. It has been organized and played in Poland every year since 2013 in honor of the best volleyball coach in Polish volleyball history, Hubert Jerzy Wagner, who won the 1974 FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship and the Olympic gold in 1976. Poland and Russia got out in front in the first day of the 2018 edition of the tournament. Here is the day’s recap.
Poland x Canada
The home team did not disappoint, handing Canada a 3-0 loss. Although the first set was very close, going into extra points and closing at 29-27, the following two frames saw a dominating Polish team close the game at 25/17, 25/19. Canada had no answer for Michal Kubiak‘s offensive finesse and Gregorz Lomacz’s efficient setting and serving. When all was said and done, Kubiak led all scorers with 14 points, while no Canadian player scored in double figures in the losing effort.
Here are the post match reactions:
“We are happy with the win, although it was not a thrilling spectacle. It is important, however, that we won. I hope that with every match our game will look better, including myself’s” – Michal Kubiak, Poland’s captain
This match can be divided into two parts – before the match itself and during it. Before the match, we had the advantage of knowing about the problems faced by the Canadian coach. Among others thing, we know he is having some trouble with Sanders back-up at the setter position. So are we, as Fabian Drzyzgi will not be with us until Saturday, as his child was recently born. We did not play a great spectacle, but it was enough. We played very wisely. It was a normal match.” – Vital Heynen, Poland’s head coach
“The Poles played a good match. I would like to apologize to our fans for this performance. We have been battling injuries, we came to Poland two days ago, it was a long trip and we do not feel well, but it is not an excuse. We’ve made a lot of mistakes, I hope our game will look better.” – Stephane Antiga, Canada’s head coach
“We are trying to get back to our optimal shape after the injuries that our team has suffered. First of all, we want to get better for the World Championship, that is our main goal.” John Perrin, Canada’s captain
Scoring Tallies
Poland: Łomacz (1), Kurek (6), Nowakowski (4), Kochanowski (9), Kubiak (14), Śliwka (10), Wojtaszek (libero) and Konarski (1)
Canada: Sanders, Hoag (8), Van Berkel (3), Sclater (8), Vigrass (4), Leoppky (5), Marshall (libero) and Blankenau (1), Szwarc (4), Vernon-Evans (7) and Jansen Vandoorn (2)
Russia x France
Russia is playing the best volleyball in the world at the moment. No one know this better than the French, who lost the VNL Finals to the Russians a few weeks ago and now have dropped their opening match at the Wagner Memorial to them as well. The game was a little more balanced than the Poland-Canada affair, the teams splitting up the first two sets. When all was said and done though, the Russian were just too good, closing the game at 3-1 (25/16, 23/25, 25/20, 26/24). Maxim Mikhaylov led all scorers with 22 points, while Jean Patry had 22 in the losing effort. France’s Earvin Ngapeth had a lackluster night, scoring only 13 points on 37% hitting.
Here are the most match reactions:
“We had a good performance in the first set, but suffered with our attack later in the game. We managed to fix it and get back to the right track. In the end, we won. We treat this tournament as a training experiment, it is a good opportunity to test yourself. The organization is very good – in every respect.” – Sergei Grankin, Russia’s captain
“I would like to thank Poland inviting us to the tournament, this is an important stage in our preparations, especially when there are such strong teams here. We can also check their strengths and tactics, ideas for the game. We always play hard with the French because they have a good technique. Like other teams, we are not in the optimal form, but this tournament is a great opportunity to test various options and settings. We still have some time until the WCH – this is the most important goal this season.” – Sergei Szliapnikov, Russia’s head coach
“First of all, congratulations are due to the Russian team, because they played well. At the moment I think it’s the best team in the world. They have been improving their good game for some time. We are happy to participate in the Memorial, because it is a well-seeded tournament, before the next major goal. We started poorly today, later it was a bit better, but we still have to work and look for solutions. We will try to show off our better side tomorrow.” – Benjamin Toniutti, France’s captain
“We always find it difficult to play with the Russians. We are tired. I did not like the beginning of the match, but I’m happy with how my players reacted. The Russians put a lot of pressure on us in the block. Now we have to forget about this match, find a solution, try to relax, because on Saturday we are playing against the Polish national team, which today … very quickly dealt with Canada.” – Laurent Tillie, France’s head coach
Scoring Tallies
Russia: Volvich 5, D.Volkov (captain) 10 (10/17), Rodichev 4, Butko 1, Musersky 10 (4 blocks), Mikhailov 22 (18/38), Verbov (l), Vlasov 2, D . Kovalyov, Grankin 3, Berezhko 5, Poletaev 2, Kurkaev 6
France: Patry 22 (19/36), Tonyutti (captain), E. Nagapet 13 (10/27, 3 aces), Le Ru 4, Le Goff 6, Rossar 6, Grebennikov (l), K. Tilly 5 , Linel 7, Brizar 1, Bultor 2.
Standings
- Poland – 3 Points – 3-0 on sets
- Russia – 3 Points – 3-1 on sets
- France – 0 Points – 1-3 on sets
- Canada – 0 Point – 0-3 on sets
Schedule
August 25
Poland – France
Russia – Canada
August 26
France – Canada
Poland – Russia
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