Aluron get back at Lublin in remake of final, Barkom stun Projekt in Poland

A rollercoaster duel in Wednesday’s advanced match of the 13^th leg in Poland’s men’s volleyball PlusLiga, a remake of last season’s final championship playoff, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie squeezed out a tie-breaker victory over defending champions BOGDANKA LUK Lublin. In one of the other three midweek games, Ukraine’s Barkom Kazhany Lviv stunned last season’s bronze medalists PGE Projekt Warsaw in straight sets.

• Watch the PlusLiga on VBTV

In anticipation of their participation in next month’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Brazil, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie achieved their fifth PlusLiga win, this time a hard-fought 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 30-28, 20-25, 15-11) at home against BOGDANKA LUK Lublin. Having already played six matches since the start of the season, Aluron top the current standings on 14 points and a 5-1 win-loss record. Lublin, on the other hand, conceded their second loss in a row and currently stand in fifth place on 9 and 3-2.

Opposite Bartlomiej Boladz contributed a match-high 29 points towards Aluron’s success and earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. He fired two aces and spiked at a 60% success rate. Another three players – American outside hitter Aaron Russell, his cross-court teammate Bartosz Kwolek, and middle blocker and captain Mateusz Bieniek – also reached the double digits, with 13, 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Aluron. Outside Wilfredo Leon was Lublin’s leading scorer with 23 points. The other outside, Frenchman Hilir Henno, finished with 19 points, while Bulgarian middle Aleks Grozdanov and opposite Kewin Sasak put away 11 points apiece.

Another three midweek matches got the fifth leg of the regular season started. In the first one on Tuesday, Barkom Kazhany Lviv produced a surprising 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 26-24) shutout of their visitors PGE Projekt Warsaw and rose to eighth place on 6 and 2-2. The squad from the capital stands sixth on 9 and 3-2. Outside Ilia Kovalov led the winners with a match-high 16 points, including three aces and a kill block to claim the MVP honors. His Australian cross-court teammate Lorenzo Pope added another 13 points, while opposite Vasyl Tupchii finished with 10. German opposite Linus Weber was Projekt’s most prolific scorer with 11 points, while French outside Kevin Tillie scored another 10.

Tuesday’s late match also offered a five-set battle and was resolved only in the overtime of the tie-breaker – 3-2 (25-21, 21-25, 23-25, 25-21, 18-16) in favor of hosts Energa Trefl Gdansk against Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski. Trefl’s opposite Aliaksei Nasevich delivered a team-high 27 points and was named MVP, while Cuprum Stilon’s French outside Mathis Henno topped the charts with 29 points, including four blocks. The team from Gdansk is now on 8 and 3-2 in seventh place, while the squad from Gorzow Wielkopolski is still winless, on 2 and 0-5, in 13^th place.

The other winless team, Slepsk Malow Suwalki, remained winless after Wednesday’s home game against Indykpol AZS Olsztyn, in which the visitors hammered out a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-15) sweep with a match-high 17 points and a 76% success rate in attack from German outside hitter Moritz Karlitzek that earned him the MVP recognition. Indykpol ascended to second place on 12 and 4-1, while Slepsk Malov trail bottom, in 14^th place on 1 and 0-5.

Next on the PlusLiga agenda are the seven matches of the sixth leg, to be played from Saturday, November 15, to Monday, November 17.

PlusLiga 2025-2026 sixth leg schedule:
Nov 15, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj
Nov 15, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Nov 15, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle v Barkom Kazhany Lviv
Nov 16, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow
Nov 16, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): InPost ChKS Chelm v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
Nov 16, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v Energa Trefl Gdansk
Nov 17, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski v Slepsk Malow Suwalki

Quick links:
Polish PlusLiga
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter