Aluron’s American receiver Aaron Russell in action (photo: Krzysztof Popiol / plusliga.pl)

Aluron’s American receiver Aaron Russell in action (photo: Krzysztof Popiol / plusliga.pl)

The sixth leg of Polish PlusLiga’s regular season is just about to start with a couple of matches on Friday evening. Another two will be played on Saturday. The weekend’s highlight, a game between mighty Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and trending Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa, is one of three matches on Sunday’s programme, before the leg comes to a conclusion with a game on Monday evening.

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Last season’s silver medallists Aluron, who also won the national cup in March and the national super cup just recently in late September, will have a difficult challenge in Norwid, the team that made headlines with huge upsets in their last two matches. Overcoming reigning champions Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj at home last Saturday and powerhouse ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle on the road on Tuesday, the Czestochowa squad is now riding the wave of a three-game winning streak, while the guys from Zawiercie need to recover from the straight-set blow they suffered upon their visit to PGE Projekt Warsaw on Monday.

Still, Aluron are ahead of Norwid in the current standings, in fifth place on 9 points and a 3-2 win-loss record. Norwid are seventh, but with a game in hand, on 7 and 3-1. Their previous two encounters, both during Norwid’s rookie PlusLiga 2023-2024 season, ended with straight-set victories for the club from Zawercie. The third meeting between the two clubs is set to start at 17:30 local time (15:30 UTC) on Sunday.

ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle will try to bounce back from their surprising setback at home against Norwid in Saturday’s home game against another prominent powerhouse, PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow. This titanic clash between stellar line-ups on both sides of the net will get underway at 14:45 (12:45).

Last season, they met four times in PlusLiga matches, exchanging victories both in the regular season and in the ninth place series, which SKRA won on a 5-4 aggregate. Now, the team from Belchatow stands in fourth place on 11 and 4-1, while their long-time rivals from Kedzierzyn-Kozle are eighth on 7 and 2-2, with a game in hand.

The PlusLiga weekend will open on Friday at 17:30 (15:30) with a game between 12th-placed Asseco Resovia Rzeszow (4 points, 1-3 win-loss record) and 15th-placed GKS Katowice (3, 1-5), followed by Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj’s home match against Indykpol AZS Olsztyn at 20:30 (18:30). The champs are third in the table on 13 and 4-1, while Indykpol are in 14th place on 3 and 1-4.

After ZAKSA v SKRA, Saturday’s programme offers a meeting between the last and the first in the standings at 20:30 (18:30). Winless Barkom Kazhany Lviv of Ukraine (0, 0-5) will host leaders PGE Projekt Warsaw (15, 5-1) at the Arena Jaskolka in the town of Tarnow in southern Poland.

The only undefeated team in the league so far this season, BOGDANKA LUK Lublin, standing second on 13 and 5-0, will entertain Slepsk Malow Suwalki, ninth on 6 and 2-3, at 14:45 (12:45) on Sunday. Later in the evening, at 20:30 (18:30), 13th-placed PSG Stal Nysa (3, 1-2) will play only their fourth match since the start of the season, welcoming sixth-placed Cuprum Stilon Gorzow (8, 3-1).

The leg will end on Monday, when Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin, 10th on 6 and 2-3, host Trefl Gdansk, 11th on 6 and 1-4. 20:30 (18:30) is the starting time of that duel.

PlusLiga 2024-2025 6th leg:
Oct 11, 17:30 local (15:30 UTC): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow v GKS Katowice
Oct 11, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Oct 12, 14:45 local (12:45 UTC): ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
Oct 12, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v PGE Projekt Warsaw
Oct 13, 14:45 local (12:45 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Slepsk Malow Suwalki
Oct 13, 17:30 local (15:30 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa
Oct 13, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v Cuprum Stilon Gorzow
Oct 14, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin v Trefl Gdansk