European Golden League-2023. Group stage. Group B
1 round. Łódź, Poland (Łódź Sport Arena)
May 27 (Saturday)
Ukraine - North Macedonia - 3:0 (25:21, 25:22, 25:11)
Starting line-up of the national team of Ukraine: Tupchii, Shchytkov, Semeniuk, Teromenko, Kovalov, Plotnytskyi, Kanaiev (l), Boiko (l). Substitutes: Shchurov, Poluian.
On May 27, the men's national team of Ukraine played the first match in the group stage of the European Golden League 2023 in Łódź. The opponent was the national team of North Macedonia.
The first minutes of the match were in favor of the team of Ugis Krastinš (4:2). Although they made mistakes on the pitch, they did a great job on the block and in the attack (15:12). From time to time, the Macedonians tried to get closer to the Ukrainians in the score, however, our volleyball players made a powerful rush and were the first to score the required 25 points. Dmytro Teromenko, the middle blocker of the "blue-yellow" team, put an end to this set – 25:21.
The second set also took place according to the scenario of the Ukrainians. Although they had a fairly small advantage (7:5), it was enough to take risks on the serve. By the way, it gave a result - the opposite Vasyl Tupchii made an ace (9:6), which forced the Macedonian coach Yoshko Milenkoski to take a time-out. Gradually, it brought results - the Macedonians equalized the score (14:14 - 17:17). Fortunately, it was the "Cossacks" who managed to have a successful ending: several blocks and attacks gave us 25:22 and 2-0 in sets.
The third set was the last in this meeting. Our team earned a great lead (8:2) thanks to the powerful serving of the captain of the "blue and yellow" Oleh Plotnytskyi. The opponent looked confused and could not turn the tide of the match (14:5 - 20:10). In the end, neither time-outs nor substitutions had any effect on the course of the third set. We must also give credit to the Ukrainian volleyball players, who, having a double advantage, did not relax for a single moment - 25:11 and 3-0 as a result.
The Ukrainians will also play their next match in Łódź. On May 31 at 20:00, our national team will play against Croatia.
