Jastrzebski win five-set rollercoaster in Olsztyn

The first five matches of the 2025-2026 season in the men’s PlusLiga in Poland have been played. Two of them were pushed to tie-breaker resolutions, with JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj winning at Indykpol AZS Olsztyn and Energia Trefl Gdansk outlasting their Ukrainian visitors Barkom Kazhany Lviv, while 2025 champions BOGDANKA LUK Lublin started the defense of their title with a sweep of their visit to Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa.

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Indykpol AZS Olsztyn’s Czech opposite and captain Jan Hadrava fired six aces against their visitors of the mighty JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj, but that was not enough to finish this dramatic match with an upset. Jastrzebski Wegiel came back from a set down to celebrate a 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 17-25, 25-18, 15-11) away victory in their opening match of the new PlusLiga season in front of over four thousand spectators on Wednesday evening. Jastrzebski’s outside hitter Nicolas Szerszen, who raised five kill blocks and fired three aces, and his German Indykpol counterpart Moritz Karlitzek shared the top scorer honors with 19 points each, while the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award went to another German, middle blocker Anton Brehme, who registered a 75% success rate in attack and finished with a total of 18 points for the winners.

In an another five-setter, played on Monday, hosts Energa Trefl Gdansk emerged victorious with a hard-fought 3-2 (19-25, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 15-8) win over Ukraine’s Barkom Kazhany Lviv after coming back from a set down twice during the match. Yet another German, Trefl’s outside Tobias Brand, contributed 24 points towards hist team’s success and turned out to be the best scorer of the five matches of the first leg played so far. Brand’s contribution that earned him the MVP recognition included two aces, three blocks and a 56% success rate in attack.

BOGDANKA LUK Lublin started the defense of their first PlusLiga title with an emphatic 3-0 (25-16, 28-26, 25-17) shutout of their hosts Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa on Wednesday evening. Star outside Wilfredo Leon fired five aces towards a match-high 16 points, while setter and captain Marcin Komenda, who raised five kill blocks, was declared MVP.

In their opening game, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow claimed a 3-1 (17-25, 25-16, 25-17, 25-18) comeback victory at Slepsk Malow Suwalki. With a 72% success rate in attack and a match-high total of 22 points, Resovia’s outside Artur Szalpuk was named MVP of the game.

In Tuesday’s other match, PlusLiga debutants InPost ChKS Chelm fought hard on the road against PGE Projekt Warsaw, but the mighty home team managed to beat them in straight sets, 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-23). Projekt’s outside Bartosz Bednorz was the best scorer of the game with 15 points, including three kill blocks, while the MVP award went to Ukrainian middle blocker Yurii Semeniuk, who spiked at a 73% success rate and put up three kill blocks to finish with 11 points in total.

The remaining four teams in the PlusLiga - ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski and PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow – will play their first-leg matches on Wednesday, October 29, after the second-leg games take place from October 25 to 28.

PlusLiga 2025-2026 second leg schedule:
Oct 25, 14:45 local (12:45 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v PGE Projekt Warsaw
Oct 25, 17:30 local (15:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Oct 25, 20:30 local (18:30 UTC): PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Oct 26, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v Slepsk Malow Suwalki
Oct 26, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow v Energa Trefl Gdansk
Oct 26, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): InPost ChKS Chelm v Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski
Oct 28, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa

PlusLiga 2025-2026 schedule and results

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