Kamil Semeniuk rewarded head coach Nikola Grbić’s faith with his finest outing yet, powering Poland past Canada in the Round of 16 of the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship on Saturday night.
Riding the momentum of his strong group-stage showing, Semeniuk earned the starting nod in the knockout clash against the Canadians, getting the spot over Tomasz Fornal, who is nursing a minor back injury.
“Why not? Why does it always have to mean something is wrong? Why can’t Semeniuk, who played amazing, have a spot on the team? I don’t understand that. Why can’t it simply be a technical choice?” said Grbić when asked by Polish media about his decision to start Semeniuk.
“Why? Okay, you played amazingly so you will play the next game. Might be, I don’t know. Okay, so I’ve got a question. Tomasz has some small problems with the back. He was available, obviously, but again, guys, try to see statistics and try to see the game Semen played,” he added.
Semeniuk validated that choice with efficient scoring throughout the match, pacing Poland to a 25-18, 23-25, 25-20, 25-14 victory at the SM Mall of Asia Arena that secured their fourth consecutive quarterfinals appearance in the tournament.
The 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship Best Outside spiker tallied a team-high 18 points, including seven in the opening set, on 15 attacks and three kill blocks.
After the match, though, Semeniuk downplayed his individual numbers. He pointed out that he only tries to translate everything he works on in training onto the court and contributes to whatever the team needs at the moment.
“I try just to transfer everything that I prepared in practice to the court when I have the possibility to play in the game, in the match. So this is the recipe, nothing special, I think,” said the former CEV Champion League MVP.
Still, Semeniuk expressed relief after clearing what he called a difficult hurdle against a gritty Canadian side, noting that the real challenge awaits in the quarterfinals, where Poland will face a red-hot Turkey squad on September 24.
“Yeah, all the time when we play against Canada it’s tough, like today. So to be honest, we are really happy that we won without a tiebreak and we are still in the tournament, we passed to the quarterfinals.”
#WATCH: Poland’s Kamil Semeniuk admits Canada is always a tough opponent and hopes Filipino fans will cheer them all the way 🇵🇱🏐
📹 @jonashdcd /Tiebreaker Times#MWCH2025 pic.twitter.com/Let4H3vlt0
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) September 20, 2025
