OSIJEK, Croatia –Crestview High School graduate and University of Pittsburgh freshman Abbey Emch and Team USA did not have the greatest time on July 4 in the U19 Volleyball World Championships.

The Red, White and Blue suffered its first setback of the tournament as Poland stunned the defending champs 25-23, 23-25, 25-17, 25-27, 16-14 on Friday.

Emch played in the third, fourth and fifth sets and had six kills.

The U.S. (2-1) will return to the court at 3:15 p.m. on Saturday against Bulgaria (2-1). Poland, who brought a boisterous crowd with it, is now 3-0 in Pool C.

The match was as close statistically as the final score would indicate with Poland holding a narrow margin in kills (64-62), the U.S. leading by one in aces (6-5) and each team totaling eight blocks.

Outside hitter Cari Spears scored a team-high 21 points, 13 of which came in the fourth and fifth sets, with 16 kills, a match-best four blocks and an ace. Opposite Henley Anderson paced the team with 19 kills.

Setter Genevieve Harris was all over the court setting, playing defense and contributing seven points with two kills, three blocks and two aces. Outsider hitter Kelly Kinney (seven kills, one ace) and middle blocker Gabrielle Nichols (six kills, one block, one ace) each scored eight points.

Outside Lameen Mambu added four kills.

“Congratulations to Poland on a well-fought match,” U.S. head coach Keegan Cook said. “This is the exact match we hoped for this group to experience in pool play. We will be better for it. We will also need to learn some lessons quickly as Bulgaria and Turkey are both strong opponents. I’m looking forward to seeing our USA team respond.”

The U.S. scored five of the first seven points of the match, but Poland responded with a 7-2 run to take a lead it would not relinquish in the first set. The lead grew to seven, 22-15, before a huge U.S. rally (8-2) made it 24-23 but Poland was able to get a kill to end the set.

Nichols scored five points on four kills and a block that finished a 4-0 run to cut the deficit from seven to three. Kinney and Spears each had three kills and four points.

A Kinney kill on an overpass in set two gave the U.S. its first lead, 7-6, since leading by the same score in the opening set. A Harris block and a Poland timeout evened the score at 14 and led to a Poland timeout. Kinney scored on a kill off a block and Spears followed with two aces, the second dribbling off the tape, for a three-point U.S. lead.

Back-to-back aces by Harris gave the U.S. a 21-17 lead. Poland scored the next three points and had a swing to even the set but a great dig by Harris led to an Anderson kill. Poland did eventually tie the set at 23 but Anderson put a ball down and an opposing hitting error gave the U.S. the set to square the match at one set apiece.

Anderson scored five points on kills, while Harris scored four points on a kill, a block and her two key aces.

With the U.S. leading 8-7 in the third set, Poland scored six of the next seven points to take a 13-9 lead. The U.S. pulled within three points on another Harris block, 15-12, but Poland went on a 5-1 run lead to take control of the set. Anderson produced four kills in the set.

The fourth set was close throughout with the U.S. denying two match points. Spears scored the team’s last five points. The first tied the set at 23 and the second staved off the first match point after Poland could not convert a free ball. Her kill off the block again saved match point and this time tied the set at 25. Spears recorded a block to give the U.S. its first set point and send the match to a fifth set with her 10th point and seventh kill of the set.

An Anderson kill gave the U.S. a 3-2 lead in the deciding set but it would be its last lead of the match. Poland led 13-10 before a kill by Emch and a hitting error brought the U.S. within a point. A tough Anderson serve led to a kill by Mambu to even the set at 13 apiece. Service errors on the last two U.S. serves opened the door for Poland to seal the match. Spears recorded three more kills in the set and Emch added two.