Poland Wins Dramatic Five-Set Thriller to Claim Third VNL Title

Poland's national volleyball team won a dramatic five-set final against the United States, 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 27-25, 23-25, 10-15), to claim their third Volleyball Nations League title under coach Nikola Grbić.

The Americans took the first set 25-21 behind strong play from Matt Anderson and Ethan Champlin, but Poland responded with a better serving performance in the second set, limiting Wilfredo Leon's attacking opportunities before pulling ahead to win 25-23 with contributions from Taylor Averill and Merrick McHenry. Poland built an early lead in the third set with Kamil Semeniuk on court in place of Leon, but a string of unforced errors let the U.S. back in, and Jake Hanes helped seal a tense 27-25 set for the Americans.

With Poland trailing, coach Grbić moved Leon back onto the court as an attacker for the fourth set. Stronger serving proved decisive, and a Leon block on Hanes in the final rally sealed a 25-23 set win to level the match. Leon stayed on as attacker for the fifth set, and Poland's blocking at the net proved the difference as they closed out the match 15-10, with Hanes' final attack going out of bounds.

For the U.S., Hanes finished with 21 points and Anderson added 20. For Poland, Tomasz Fornal and Bartlomiej Lemanski each scored 15, and Kamil Semeniuk added 11.