Toshiki's comment
I wrote a prediction article before the final, but it was completely wrong (lol).
First, Leon, who had been in poor form in the quarterfinals and semifinals, made a remarkable comeback.
From the first set, Leon was on fire, scoring 8 points in attack, with an attacking effectiveness rate of 581 TP and 3 T. He was a force to be reckoned with. His height, sharpness, and decisiveness were all there. Leon's signature style was back. Perhaps because setter Komenda saw that Leon was in good form, he didn't want to miss this opportunity, and he aggressively supplied sets to Leon, as if to get him going as hard as possible.
However, Komenda did not rely solely on Leon, and as mentioned above, he also actively mixed in mid-range attacks from Kochanowski and Semeniuk, and launched aggressive attacks from the center.
On the other hand, Sasak, the opposite player who had shown godlike performance in the quarterfinals and semifinals, was somewhat overshadowed (although his serve and block were very good), but Semeniuk's stability was amazing. I also think that libero Popivchak also did well to retrieve the ball.
Novak, who was in the middle, was unable to score due to his unstable combination with Komenda, but substitute Jakubishak made his presence felt with his spikes and blocks.
So Poland was strong. Really strong. I think they probably would have won even without Italy's disastrous second set.
However, the impact that the rotation error in the second set mentioned above (it is difficult to know what to call this incident correctly, but for now we will call it a "rotation error") had on the match will be immeasurable.
It's unclear how such a costly mistake occurred, but it must have made things difficult for Italy and caused a lot of mental stress. Setter Giannelli was clearly frustrated, and it showed in his play.
The negative mental impact of these efforts continued even between sets, and Japan was unable to do much to counter Poland's even greater serve pressure in the third set.
Therefore, I personally think that when they realized they had made a rotation mistake in the second set, they should have brought in backup setter Sbertoli and allowed them to play volleyball in their usual system. If they hadn't wanted to take Micheletto off the court, they could have replaced opposite Lihiritsuki with outside hitter Bottro (who played very well in the second set) and gone with a 3-over-the-ball system.
At the very least, it would have worked better than it had been in the previous state, and even if the set had been lost, I think the stress on the players would have been less.
Anyway, personally, I couldn't watch the match properly from the second set onwards. I couldn't maintain my concentration.
The Italian team, which had played such a great game in the first set, was a shadow of their former selves.
In the first set, mainstay Micheletto struggled against Poland's defense, but Lavia was in good form and if Italy's serve was strong there would be plenty of chances to turn the game around.
However, from the second set onwards, the match became a completely different one. It is truly unfortunate that the final, which was supposed to be the most exciting, highest level and most entertaining match of the tournament, ended up in this way.
Even if the Italian bench had submitted the wrong rotation, it would clearly have been a strange rotation to an expert, so couldn't the referees have asked the Italian team to check it?
Considering the need to deliver the best possible match to the audience at the venue and to volleyball fans around the world watching via live stream, I think at least that much consideration would have been appreciated.
In any case, I hope the Italian team will be able to get over this disappointment at the World Championships.
I would like to congratulate the winning Polish team. In addition to the original members being rested, the team suffered many injuries, including during the final round, and was forced to compete with a different lineup than originally planned, but they still managed to win, once again demonstrating to the world the depth of Poland's player pool.
Sasak's performance in the final round was amazing, and Kochanowski, who took over as captain from the third week, also fulfilled his role brilliantly. Congratulations on winning the MVP award.
There will likely be some changes to the team members at the World Championships, but they will still be the top contenders to win. If Japan advances, they will face Poland in the quarterfinals at the latest, so we can look forward to a rematch between Japan and Poland.
A word about this year's awards ceremony
I would also like to criticize the fact that only the winning team was awarded after the game.
Perhaps it was due to time or budget cuts, but it seemed like a very disrespectful act towards the second and third place teams.
It was especially painful to watch the Italian players watching the Polish medal ceremony after the match. They are a great team that made it all the way to the final, and this silver medal was their first medal in the VNL. It was painful to see them being celebrated in this way.
Thanks to efforts by the host country, Poland, the women's competition avoided this situation and an awards ceremony was held for the second and third place teams.
Next year, I hope that there will be a proper award ceremony for individual prizes and for first, second, and third place winners, just like last year.
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