Magiera: Some questions before the VNL final in Łódź

The results are all in, although after defeats to Brazil and, above all, Japan, a slight sense of dissatisfaction remains. Victories against teams like Korea and Bulgaria are a must for our team. The national team's overall record throughout this year's Nations League series is nine wins and three losses.

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The overall result was very good, especially since Lavarini acted as he promised, treating the qualifying round as a kind of testing ground, giving all the players he took with him on the tour to Serbia and Japan extended playing time, often at the expense of the match result. There will likely be no changes to this fourteen-man roster, and barring any unforeseen health issues or injuries, we'll see the same players from the tournaments in Belgrade and Chiba not only in the Nations League final in Łódź but also at the World Championships in Thailand. The only question is, in which lineup?

It seemed that the lineup of Katarzyna Wenerska – Magdalena Stysiak, Agnieszka Korneluk – Magdalena Jurczyk, Martyna Łukasik – Martyna Czyrniańska, and Aleksandra Szczygłowska was untouchable, and that the hierarchy in each position would remain intact. However, this no longer seems to be the case today, as Magdalena Stysiak and Magdalena Jurczyk's stocks have dropped slightly since the last tournament. Aleksandra Gryka has been the biggest winner recently. Paulina Damaske had some good moments, and Malwina Smarzek showed a very strong performance, appearing at times much more impressive than Stysiak.

And here we need to pause for a moment. Many fans believe that Magdalena Stysiak, by deciding to transfer to one of the world's best clubs, Fenerbahce Istanbul, wasted the last two years, as she played virtually none of that time, giving way to Melisa Vargas. I don't know if such direct, or even drastic, assessments of the volleyball player's choice of club are fair and just, but it's undeniable that this time wasn't so much wasted as it was certainly not fully utilized. The whole thing boils down to the common perception of a lack of experience, which in turn translates to a lack of automatic decision-making, and this lack of automaticity immediately triggers all the gaps and deficiencies in her game, which stem from her training itself, but that's a topic for another time.

Magdalena Stysiak is a competitive athlete who demands a lot from herself and is aware that she's still some way from her optimal form. She's made this clear in her statements, and now she simply needs to take the next step by accepting the situation and demonstrating considerable maturity, not taking offense at anyone, but simply continuing to work hard. Malwina Smarzek is a prime example.

I'm very curious to see which team Stefano Lavarini will choose in the Nations League quarterfinals. We'll be playing China, who finished fifth in the inter-stage tournament, to advance to the final four. We beat them 3-1 in the first tournament in Beijing, but that doesn't really matter today. A completely new story will be written in Łódź. Hopefully, it'll be a medal-winning final for our volleyball team.

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