Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa beat PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow to the last available Polish PlusLiga vacancy in the TAURON Poland Cup quarterfinals. In another highlight of the 15th-leg matches that wrapped up the first half of the regular season, Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj shut out Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie in a leadership battle, of which PGE Projekt Warsaw took advantage to climb back up to second place in the current standings.
PlusLiga 2024-2025
Five-set win lifts Projekt back to second place; Norwid snatch last Poland Cup vacancy
Recap of PlusLiga’s 15th-leg matches
Published 11:21, 10 Dec 2024
Projekt’s Artur Szalpuk in reception (photo: Adam Starszyński / plusliga.pl)
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In a direct battle for the sixth place, which guaranteed a ticket to the national cup tournament, Norwid claimed a 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 21-25, 25-21) away victory over SKRA and improved to 28 points and a 10-5 win-loss record, pushing the opponents down to eighth place on 23 and 8-7. Their Czech opposite Patrik Indra hammered out a match-high 32 points towards Norwid’s success and earned the Most Valuable Player award.
Jastrzebski Wegiel achieved a 3-0 (25-22, 27-25, 25-22) shutout of Aluron on the road to consolidate their leading position in the table on 40 and 13-2 and force the opponents one spot down to third place on 34 and 11-4. Outside hitter Tomasz Fornal led the way with 15 points, including two aces and two kill blocks, and claimed the MVP nomination.
Projekt capitalized on Aluron’s defeat to overtake them into the second place on 35 and 13-2 by claiming a hard-fought 3-2 (21-25, 25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 18-16) away win over Slepsk Malow Suwalki, who are just below the playoff zone, in ninth place on 21 and 8-7. German opposite Linus Weber and outside Artur Szalpuk led the winners with 22 points apiece, with the latter earning the MVP recognition, while Slepsk’s opposite Bartosz Filipiak produced a match-high 29 points.
Fourth-placed BOGDANKA LUK Lublin also celebrated on the road to improve to 31 and 11-4. They delivered a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 26-24) shutout of Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski. Outside Wilfredo Leon was the best scorer of the match as he contributed 18 points towards the victory, including two aces and two blocks. Cuprum are now down to 11th place on 19 and 8-7.
ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle kept their fifth place in the table on 31 and 10-5 after a 3-1 (25-20, 20-25, 25-22, 25-17) home win over bottom-placed GKS Katowice, who are stuck in 16th position on 4 and 1-14. ZAKSA’s Belgian outside Igor Grobelny was on fire and hammered out 23 points, including two aces and two blocks, towards the victory.
After the half-season’s closing match on Monday evening, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow surpassed SKRA into the seventh place on 25 and 7-8 upon claiming a 3-1 (28-26, 22-25, 25-19, 25-22) away victory over Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin, who fell into the relegation zone, in 14th place on 11 and 3-12. Resovia’s opposite Jakub Bucki was the match top scorer with 22 points, including three aces and a block.
Indykpol AZS Olsztyn continued their rise with a fourth consecutive win. They mastered a 3-0 (28-26, 25-17, 25-19) sweep of their home game against Trefl Gdansk and climbed to 10th place on 20 and 6-9. Meanwhile, Trefl dropped to 12th on 17 and 5-10. Indykpol’s German outside Moritz Karlitzek and Czech opposite Jan Hadrava, and Trefl’s outside Jakub Czerwinski shared the top scorer honours of the match on 14 points each.
PSG Stal Nysa found a way out of the relegation zone into 13th place on 12 and 3-12 with a 3-1 (25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 25-18) home win over Barkom Kazhany Lviv, who dropped to 15th on 9 and 3-12. Stal’s Moroccan outside Zouheir El-Graoui put away three aces and two kill blocks towards a 23-point match high.
The second half of the regular season starts with the matches of the 16th leg, which will take place from Thursday, December 12, to Monday, December 16.
PlusLiga 2024-2025 16th leg:
Dec 12, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle v PGE Projekt Warsaw
Dec 13, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin v GKS Katowice
Dec 14, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie
Dec 14, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Dec 14, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v Barkom Kazhany Lviv
Dec 15, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow
Dec 15, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Slepsk Malow Suwalki v Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa
Dec 16, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Trefl Gdansk v Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski
