The first match of the Polish Przyliga Playoffs final between Zawierczek and Lublin took place on Wednesday, April 30th local time, with Lublin beating Zawierczek 0-3 (21-25, 22-25, 21-25) to take the win in their first match.
After the match, we spoke with Lublin's L. Tarrés Oss, a Brazilian national team player.
T: Congratulations on your victory. How do you feel looking back on this match?
Tarres: I think our serves were really good today. We were behind in the early stages of two of the three sets, but we were able to come back with our serves. I also think our reception was good. We had some issues with that in the semi-final against Jastrzebski, but we fixed that. Also, I don't know how to explain this properly, but I think it was good that we were able to fight with a strong desire to win today.
T: What about your own performance?
Tarres: I think it was good for me personally. Liberos don't touch the ball a lot, so they have to talk and give instructions a lot during the game. Still, I think my play today was good. It wasn't perfect, and there were areas I could improve on. But as I said before, a libero has to give instructions and get the team going. I think it's important to plan the strategy with serve reception, call for the ball, and play out loud the whole time.
T: You were playing away today, but what was the atmosphere like in this final?
Thales: It was great. I think the whole team had a good feeling. This hole? This gym? I don't know what to say, but it was great. It was my first time playing here and it was very good. Our hole in Lublin was very good, but this was also very good.
T: This is your second season in Lublin. Last season you were fifth and this year you're a finalist. How has this season gone so far?
Tarres: Very good. Personally, last season was also very good. The team made it to 5th place in the first Polish league. It was very disappointing to lose to Warsaw in the golden set in the quarterfinals, but I think we still grew as a team. This season, I already knew the coach and the players, and the new players, Leon, Sawicki, Kevin (Sasak), Alex (Grozdanov), Finian (McCarthy), etc., were all very high level and they really raised the team up.
T: What do you think about the liberos in the Polish League (Przlyga)?
Tarres: I can answer this question like everyone else: "Amazing." For example, Perry (of Xavierce) is the best libero in the Przliga for me. No, not "the best," but "one of them." There are a lot of high-level liberos, like Popivczak... I want to name about 10 of them. But he's really amazing, and I'm really honored to be able to play in this league, and I'm happy that I can play at a good level in it.
Upcoming Polish League Final fixtures
(Japan time)
Round 2: Saturday, May 3rd, 21:45
Round 3: Wednesday, May 7th 27:30
Both can be viewed on VBTV
Photo: TOSHIKI, plusliga.pl
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