Kevin Sasak in Bartosz Kurek's shoes. A hero of the Polish national team.

Everything that could possibly be said and written about Kewin Sasak in the 2024/25 league season has already been said and written. The attacker proved to be a true revelation in a high-stakes game, defending the colors of Bogdanka LUK Lublin. What the Lublin team led to the PlusLiga gold medal and the Challenge Cup can now be admired in the national team – the pivotal figures of setter Marcin Komenda, receiver Wilfredo Leon, and the aforementioned attacker Kewin Sasak.

Kevin Sasak shows off in the Nations League quarterfinals. Here's the national team's hero.

The last of the aforementioned Bogdanka LUK volleyball players performed very well in Thursday's Poland-Japan quarterfinal . From the very beginning, Sasak became Komenda's first offensive choice. Overall, the attacker scored 15 points while playing with a 62 percent efficiency rate (16 completed attacks).

In addition to his offensive play (valuable attacking variability, power and reach, but also technique), Sasak's three service aces are worth appreciating. The attacker stood in the service box at a crucial moment in the first set, giving the national team a 23-20 lead from a 20-20 deficit. Sasak also added two blocks. A match with a +12 rating in the statistics is a very good performance from the attacker.

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It can therefore be safely admitted that in the absence of the injured Bartosz Kurek, Sasak stepped into the shoes of "Kuraś" and the team captain, very conscientiously carrying out the tasks entrusted to the national team's attacker.

For the 28-year-old volleyball player, it was also a crucial match in terms of national team experience. While the stakes are lower in the VNL quarterfinals than the World Championships, European Championships, or Olympics, there's a valuable value in playing with the knowledge that the loser is eliminated.

This was also mentioned after the meeting by Jakub Kochanowski, a much more experienced representative multi-medalist in this respect.

"It's very important that we, the slightly more experienced players, take on the burden of responsibility for this match, at least mentally. So the rest of us can focus only on ourselves, on volleyball. Today, I think we did quite well, and we'll definitely continue to do so," said the center, who serves as the team captain, after the quarterfinal victory.

VNL 2025: Poland vs. Brazil in the semifinals. Where and when to watch the match?

Who will the Polish national volleyball team play to reach the Nations League final? Their opponents will be Brazil, the team that finished first in the intercontinental section. Interestingly, the Brazil-Poland match already took place this season. During the tournament in Chicago, the Brazilian team won 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 28-26). However, the Poles did not have all their key players in their ranks. Kamil Semeniuk had the best performance for the Polish side, scoring 17 points. Artur Szalpuk also chipped in with 15 points.

The semifinal between Poland and Brazil will take place on Saturday (August 2nd). The match kicks off at 1:00 PM CET. The first of the 2025 VNL semifinals will be played earlier (9:00 AM), pitting the world champions Italy against Slovenia. Interestingly, the Slovenians pulled off the biggest upset in the quarterfinals, eliminating the French.

All matches of the VNL 2025 men's volleyball final tournament will be broadcast on Polsat Sport. Additionally, matches of the Polish national team will be included in the schedule of the open-source Polsat channel. Online broadcasts will be available on the Polsat Box Go platform.

Read also: This duo is the future of the Polish national team. "We've got some beautiful gems." Read also: Champions ejected from the tournament! Shocking results in the Nations League finals