Barkom stun Jastrzebski in one of five five-setters in Poland this weekend

The 16^th leg in the Polish PlusLiga regular season offered an exciting “weekend”, with as many as five of the eight matches resolved in fifth-set tie-breakers. In the most shocking development, the only foreign team in the league, second-from-the-bottom Barkom Kazhany Lviv of Ukraine, celebrated an away victory over defending champions and table leaders Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj.

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In front of nearly 2,500 spectators on the stands in Jastrzebie-Zdroj on Saturday, Barkom disappointed the home crowd with a 3-2 (25-20, 27-25, 21-25, 13-25, 15-13) victory. Opposite Vasyl Tupchii and middle blocker Vladyslav Shchurov led the winners with 15 points apiece. The latter impressed with seven kill blocks, while the former picked up the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Jastrzebski’s Argentinean outside Luciano Vicentin was the best scorer of the match with 25 points. The two teams kept their places in the current standings, Jastrzebski on top of the table on 41 points and a 13-3 win-loss record, and Barkom 15^th on 11 and 4-12.

In a high-level clash, also on Saturday, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie managed a 3-2 (25-18, 18-25, 25-19, 21-25, 15-12) away victory over BOGDANKA LUK Lublin and widened the gap between the two teams in the table to four points. Aluron are third on 36 and 12-4, while BOGDANKA are fourth on 32 and 11-5. American outside hitter Aaron Russell led the winners with a match-high 23 points, claiming the MVP nomination. His teammate Karol Butryn (five aces) and Lublin’s Wilfredo Leon scored 22 points each.

PGE Projekt Warsaw were able to shorten the distance to the leaders and widen the gap from third-placed Aluron after mastering a convincing 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-21) shutout of ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle on the road on Thursday. Their opposite Bartlomiej Boladz was the best scorer of the match with 14 points. Projekt are in the runner-up position on 38 and 14-2, while ZAKSA are fifth on 31 and 10-6.

Sixth-placed Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa also suffered a defeat this weekend. In a tight five-setter on Sunday, their hosts Slepsk Malow Suwalki beat them by a hard-fought 3-2 (26-24, 24-26, 20-25, 25-21, 18-16) and stayed in ninth place on 23 and 9-7. Norwid remained sixth on 29 and 10-6. Slepsk’s opposite Bartosz Filipiak fired three aces to lead the team with 29 points, while his Czech counterpart Patrik Indra aced five times towards a 31-point match high.

Earlier on Sunday, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow produced a 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 28-30, 25-19) away win over PSG Stal Nysa with a 27-point match high from opposite Jakub Bucki. Resovia stayed in seventh place on 28 and 8-8, while Stal are still just above the relegation zone, in 13^th place on 12 and 3-13.

PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow also kept their eighth place, now on 25 and 9-7, after their narrow 3-2 (25-17, 15-25, 19-25, 30-28, 17-15) home victory over Indykpol AZS Olsztyn, who stayed in 10^th place on 21 and 6-10. Serbian outside Miran Kujundzic scored 24 points for the winners, while Indykpol’s Czech opposite Jan Hadrava topped the match chart with 28.

In the leg’s closing match on Monday evening, Trefl Gdansk and Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski put up an even battle, which was, however, resolved in straight sets the home team’s way, 3-0 (25-23, 33-31, 27-25). Trefl’s outside Piotr Orczyk contributed a match-high 18 points towards the victory. This result caused the only movement in the table, compared to the standings before the start of the leg, as the two sides switched places. Trefl are now up to 11^th place on 20 and 6-10, while Cuprum are down to 12^th on 19 and 8-8.

In a duel within the relegation zone on Friday, GKS Katowice battled back from two sets down to deliver a 3-2 (18-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-12) away victory over Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin, with a 22-point match high from Tunisian outside Aymen Bouguerra. This way, GKS narrowed the distance to Nowak-Mosty in the table, but remained on the bottom, in 16^th place on 6 and 2-14, while their opponents from Bedzin are 14^th on 12 and 3-13.

The 17^th leg will be played from Thursday, December 19, to Sunday, December 22.

PlusLiga 2024-2025 17th leg:
Dec 19, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
Dec 20, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Dec 21, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow v Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj
Dec 21, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Indykpol AZS Olsztyn v Slepsk Malow Suwalki
Dec 21, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie
Dec 22, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Trefl Gdansk v BOGDANKA LUK Lublin
Dec 22, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin
Dec 22, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v GKS Katowice

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