Cuprum Stilon push champs Lublin to five

Defending champions BOGDANKA LUK Lublin were pushed to five sets upon their visit to Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski, but survived to score their sixth consecutive win in the men’s volleyball PlusLiga as six games of the 11^th leg of regular season action unfolded in Poland from Thursday to Sunday.

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On Sunday afternoon, BOGDANKA LUK Lublin had to fight back from a set down twice in the match against their hosts Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski, but eventually celebrated a 3-2 (23-25, 27-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-12) victory to improve to 27 points and a 9-3 win-loss record, and surge to the top of the current standings on a slightly better set ratio than previous leaders Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and a game in hand. Cuprum Stilon, who are in the scuffle for survival in the league, picked up a valuable point, but dropped to second from the bottom, 12^th place on 8 and 2-10. With three aces and three kill blocks to his name, Lublin’s star outside hitter Wilfredo Leon produced a match-high 26 points towards the victory. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, however, went to substitute opposite Mateusz Malinowski, who was not among the starters for the first two sets, but made a solid contribution to the comeback, spiking at a 66% success rate and firing an ace towards a 20-point total. Brazilian opposite Chizoba Neves led the home team with 21 points, including three aces and two blocks.

In the leg’s closing match on Sunday evening, PGE Projekt Warsaw delivered a 3-1 (25-23, 25-16, 21-25, 25-20) home win over ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle and ascended to third place on 25 and 9-2. For them, it was also the sixth consecutive victory and they are the team with the fewest losses in the league so far. ZAKSA, on the other hand, dropped two positions in the table and fell outside the playoff zone, to ninth place on 16 and 5-6. Outside hitter Bartosz Bednorz put away four kill blocks and an ace towards a team-high 22 points and received the MVP honors. ZAKSA’s Italian international opposite Kamil Rychlcki topped the match chart with 25 points, including three blocks.

The PlusLiga “weekend” started on Thursday with Energa Trefl Gdansk’s 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-21) emphatic sweep of their home match against PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow. Serving a combined total of seven aces, German outside hitter Tobias Brand and his cross-court teammate Piotr Orczyk contributed a match-high 13 points each. Brand, who fired four direct serving points, was named MVP of the match. Trefl improved to 18 and 7-4 in seventh place, while SKRA are running in fourth place on 24 and 8-3.

Slepsk Malow Suwalki escaped from the bottom of the table and the relegation zone for now, after a 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-18) shutout of their visitors InPost ChKS Chelm on Saturday. Opposite and captain Bartosz Filipiak led the team with a match-high 15 points, while the MVP award went to Slepsk Malow’s setter Karol Jankiewicz. The squad from Suwalki climbed to 11^th place on 8 and 2-9, surpassing the PlusLiga rookies from Chelm and pushing them down to 13^th place on 6 and 2-9.

Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa are the new inhabitant of the relegation zone after falling to Asseco Resovia Rzeszow in four sets. The home team put together a 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 27-29, 25-19) victory and climbed to fifth place on 23 and 8-3, while Steam are now stuck at the bottom, in 14^th place on 5 and 1-10. Resovia’s outside Artur Szalpuk hit 22 kills in attack at a 71% success rate and put up one kill block to emerge as the best scorer and the MVP of the match.

JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj mastered a convincing 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-23) road win at Ukraine’s Barkom Kazhany Lviv in Elblag. Outside Michal Gierzot was the winners’ leading scorer with 17 points, including four aces, while the MVP award went to German middle blocker Anton Brehme, who spiked at a 75% success rate, put up two blocks and fired an ace to finish with nine points. Barkom Kazhany’s Australian outside Lorenzo Pope was the top scorer of the match with 19 points, all in swings. Jastrzebski Wegiel improved to 18 and 7-4, and entered the playoff zone in eighth place. The Ukrainian team remained in 10^th place on 10 and 3-8.

The remaining match of the 11^th leg was advanced to November 18, when Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, participants in next week’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Brazil, achieved a five-set victory at Indykpol AZS Olsztyn.

Next on the PlusLiga program are four 12^th-leg fixtures to be played midweek – from Tuesday, December 16, to Thursday, December 18.

PlusLiga 2025-2026 upcoming matches:
Dec 16, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow v Slepsk Malow Suwalki
Dec 16, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v Energa Trefl Gdansk
Dec 17, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Dec 18, 18:30 local (17:30 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow

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