Five-set duel between Trefl and ZAKSA rounds off PlusLiga leg seven

With a five-set battle between Energa Trefl Gdansk and ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle, the seventh leg of the men’s volleyball PlusLiga in Poland came to an end on Monday evening.

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After a narrow tie-breaker, Energa Trefl Gdansk celebrated a 3-2 (25-21, 26-24, 19-25, 19-25, 15-13) home victory over ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle and surpassed the opponents in the current standings. Trefl are now seventh on 10 points and a 4-3 win-loss record, while ZAKSA dropped two spots and are now below the cut-off line for the playoffs, in ninth place on 10 and 3-4. Outside hitter Piotr Orczyk led the home team with a match-high 23 points, all in attack at a 59% success rate, to earn the Most Valuable Player (MVP) recognition. His Belgian counterpart Igor Grobelny was ZAKSA’s most prolific scorer with 20 points, including three kill blocks and an ace.

One of Sunday’s fixtures also offered a five-set battle. Slepsk Malow Suwalki surprisingly pushed their hosts PGE Projekt Warsaw to a tie-breaker resolution, after taking the lead twice during the match. In the end, Projekt registered a 3-2 (23-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-11) victory to improve to 14 and 5-2 in fifth place. Slepsk Malow also moved a spot up the table and are now 12^th on 4 and 1-6. German opposite Linus Weber led the winners with 22 points, including three aces and a block, while libero Damian Woitaszek picked up the MVP award. The visitors’ opposite and captain Bartosz Filipiak hammered out a match-high 27 points.

The most anticipated match of the seventh leg, between Asseco Resovia Rzeszow and Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie on Saturday, was resolved in straight sets. The visitors from Zawiercie, who will compete at next month’s FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship in Brazil, mastered a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 25-19) shutout of their opponents, handing them their second (consecutive) defeat since the start of the season. Having already played nine matches, Aluron continue to top the table, now on 20 and 7-2, while Resovia fell to sixth place on 14 and 5-2. American outside Aaron Russell was the best scorer of the match, with 17 points, including two aces, for the winners. His cross-court teammate Bartosz Kwolek, who chipped in with 13 points, was named MVP.

Indykpol AZS Olsztyn kept their place right below the table leaders, on 19 and 6-2, after a 3-0 (32-30, 25-20, 25-19) home win over winless Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski, who are stuck at the bottom, in 14^th place on 3 and 0-7. Outside Pawel Halaba led the winners with a match-high 18 points and claimed the MVP honors.

With Sunday’s 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 26-28, 25-20) win at Barkom Kazhany Lviv, defending champions BOGDANKA LUK Lublin rose to third place on 16 and 5-3. The Ukrainian team stayed in 10^th place, now on 7 and 2-4, with a game in hand. Lublin’s Bulgarian middle blocker Aleks Grozdanov received a well-deserved MVP nomination after topping the match charts with 20 points – six kill blocks and 14 swings at an 88% success rate.

In Friday’s leg opener, PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow put together their fifth consecutive win, a 3-1 (25-23, 21-25, 25-19, 26-24) home victory over Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa, and climbed to fourth place on 15 and 5-1, also with a game in hand. Steam are second from the bottom, in 13^th place on 3 and 1-6. French outside Antoine Pothron led the winners with 18 points and received the MVP award. Czech opposite Patrik Indra produced a match-high 20 points, including three aces, for the visitors.

JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj lost the first set of their home game against PlusLiga rookies InPost ChKS Chelm, but came back to take a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-18) victory with a team-high 18 points from sub-in opposite Adam Lorenc, who was declared match MVP. Chelm’s Iranian outside Amirhossein Esfandiar put away a match-high 21 points.

Four of the seven eighth-leg matches will be played this week – on Tuesday and Wednesday, November 25 and 26.

PlusLiga 2025-2026 midweek schedule:
Nov 25, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow v JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj
Nov 25, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v Barkom Kazhany Lviv
Nov 26, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Nov 26, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa v Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski

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