Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie took the third match of the Polish PlusLiga final to push the best-of-five championship playoff against BOGDANKA LUK Lublin to a fourth game on Saturday. Lublin lead the series by 2-1 in wins. Meanwhile, PGE Projekt Warsaw closed the third-place series by 3-0 in wins after Wednesday’s five-set victory at Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj to claim the bronze.
PlusLiga 2024-2025
Aluron stay alive in PlusLiga final, Projekt claim bronze
Recap of the third leg in the PlusLiga medal playoffs
Published 04:50, 08 May 2025
Photo: Piotr Sumara / plusliga.pl
- Watch the PlusLiga on VBTV
TO NIE KONIEC, WRACAMY DO LUBLINA! 🔥🔥🔥#PlusLiga #ZAWLBN pic.twitter.com/gnTJOxmihf
— Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie 🏐🇵🇱 (@AluronCMC) May 7, 2025
American outside hitter Aaron Russell and German opposite Gyorgy Grozer shared the top scorer honors in Aluron’s 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 20-25, 29-27) home victory over BOGDANKA in front of 3,300 fans at Arena Sosnowiec on Wednesday evening.
Russell spiked at a 56% success rate and raised three kill blocks, while Grozer registered a 57% success rate in swinging and put away an ace, as they contributed 19 points each towards their team’s important success. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award went to Aluron’s other outside Bartosz Kwolek, who finished with 18 points, including one ace and one block. In offense, Kwolek delivered at 59% success.
Outside hitters Mikolaj Sawicki and Wilfredo Leon led Lublin’s scorers with 18 and 14 points, respectively. While Sawicki impressed with four aces, Bulgarian middle Aleks Grozdanov was BOGDANKA’s leading blocker with three stuffs under his belt.
The fourth match of the final series will be played at the HSW Globus in Lublin on Saturday, May 10, at 17:30 local time (15:30 UTC).
Earlier on Wednesday evening, with two German strikers spearheading the team’s valiant effort, Projekt put together a 3-2 (21-25, 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 15-12) victory at Jastrzebski Wegiel to pick up the club’s third bronze and fifth overall medal in PlusLiga history, and leave last year’s champions and this year’s regular season winners off the podium.
Outside hitter Tobias Brand led the way with a match-high 22 points, including two aces and two kill blocks. Also registering 71% good reception, he earned a well-deserved MVP recognition. His compatriot in the opposite’s position Linus Weber spiked at a 67% success rate and fired three aces to finish with 21 points. Middle blocker Jakub Kochanowski (three kill blocks, two aces) and outside Artur Szalpuk (one block, one ace) contributed 15 and 14 points, respectively.
Outsides Timothee Carle of France (two aces) and Tomasz Fornal (four blocks, one ace) were Jastrzebski Wegiel’s most prolific players with 18 points apiece. Middle Norbert Huber impressed with five kill blocks and two aces towards a 14-point total. Opposite Lukasz Kaczmarek produced 13 kills in attack, while German middle Anton Brehme finished with 12 points, including two stuffs.
PlusLiga 2024-2025 first-place playoff, 4th leg:
May 10, 17:30 local (15:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie
