Does that still surprise anyone? Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa beat second-placed BOGDANKA LUK Lublin despite a stellar seven-ace performance from Wilfredo Leon in the Polish PlusLiga, and if they had not already upset several big names this season, it would probably be considered a shocker. But now, it’s just another day in Poland. In one of the other 11th-leg games, leaders Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj also suffered a setback upon their visit to ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle, so the race at the top of the standings is really heating up.
PlusLiga 2024-2025
Leaders upset in Poland
Recap of PlusLiga’s 11th-leg matches
Published 07:15, 12 Nov 2024
Norwid’s American setter Quinn Isaacson in action (source: Piotr Sumara, Marek Osuchowski / plusliga.pl)
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After their sensational wins over the likes of Jastrzebski, ZAKSA, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow and PGE Projekt Warsaw, Norwid took another big scalp in the PlusLiga, that of Lublin, who had previously suffered only one loss this season. In one of Friday’s PlusLiga matches, the squad from Czestochowa achieved a 3-1 (25-20, 24-26, 25-16, 25-22) home win over BOGDANKA. Norwid’s Czech opposite Patrik Indra led the way with 24 points. Iranian outside hitter and captain Milad Ebadipour added another 21, including two aces, four kill blocks and the match winner. His cross-court teammate Bartlomiej Lipinski also reached the double digits with 16 points, while the Most Valuable Player award of the match went to American setter Quinn Isaacson. Lublin’s big star, outside Wilfredo Leon, fired as many as seven aces towards a 20-point tally. Sixth-placed Norwid improved to 21 and 8-3, while BOGDANKA were surpassed by Projekt into the second place and now stand third on 25 and 9-2.
In the most anticipated match of the PlusLiga “weekend”, ZAKSA delivered a 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-23, 25-16) home victory over defending champions and table leaders Jastrzebski Wegiel. Opposite Mateusz Recko was the top scorer for the winners with 17 points, while the MVP award went to outside Rafal Szymura, who scored 13 times, including three aces. ZAKSA’s star opposite Bartosz Kurek came into play for the first time since mid September. He entered the court as a sub in each of the four sets and chipped in with a total of three points, including the match winner. Jastrzebski’s outside Tomasz Fornal produced the match high of 24 points, including two aces and four blocks. On 28 and 9-2, the team from Jastrzebie-Zdroj continues to top the standings. ZAKSA are in fifth place on 23 and 7-4.
To slide into the runner-up position, PGE Projekt Warsaw squeezed out a tight 3-2 (24-26, 25-22, 26-28, 25-23, 16-14) victory upon their trip to Indykpol AZS Olsztyn, with 23 points from match top scorer and MVP Bartlomiej Boladz, and improved to 25 and 9-2, overtaking BOGDANKA on set ratio. Indykpol are third from the bottom, in 14th place on 7 and 2-8.
Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie kept their fourth place in the table after mastering a 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-21) sweep at Slepsk Malow Suwalki with a 15-point match high from American outside Aaron Russell and improving to 25 and 8-3, tying both Projekt and BOGDANKA on points. Slepsk occupy 11th place on 11 and 4-6.
In the leg’s closing match on Monday evening, Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski claimed a difficult five-set home victory over bottom-placed GKS Katowice. After a 3-2 (20-25, 25-22, 25-21, 21-25, 15-13) win, they stayed in seventh place on 17 and 7-4. GKS are still stuck to the 16th on 4 and 1-10. Cuprum’s Brazilian opposite Chizoba Neves and his GKS counterpart Bartosz Gromulka shared the top scorer honours with 25 points each.
PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow produced a hard-fought 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 26-24) shutout of their Ukrainian visitors Barkom Kazhany Lviv and also collected 17 points. On a 6-4 win-loss record, they surpassed Asseco Resovia Rzeszow to the eighth place, while Barkom are still second from the bottom on 5 and 2-8. SKRA’s Serbian outside Pavle Peric was the best scorer (with 15 points) and MVP of the match.
Resovia claimed victory, but dropped a point upon their visit at Trefl Gdansk and fell to ninth place on 17 and 5-6, while Trefl climbed to 10th on 12 and 3-8. French opposite Stephen Boyer hammered out a 30-point match high towards Resovia’s 3-2 (25-21, 25-14, 18-25, 20-25, 15-13) win.
In the leg’s opening game on Thursday, Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin delivered a 3-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22) home victory over PSG Stal Nysa with outsides Brandon Koppers of Canada and Dominik Depowski leading the way with 17 points each, while their Stal counterpart Wojciech Wlodarczyk topped the charts with 23. Nowak-Mosty overtook Stal into the 12th place on 10 and 3-7, leaving the opponents in 13th on 8 and 2-8.
A postponed match from the eighth leg will be played on Wednesday, while the eight 12th-leg games are set to take place from Thursday to Sunday.
PlusLiga 2024-2025 8th leg:
Nov 13, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
PlusLiga 2024-2025 12th leg:
Nov 14, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v Slepsk Malow Suwalki
Nov 15, 17:00 local (16:00 UTC): Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Nov 15, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): GKS Katowice v Trefl Gdansk
Nov 16, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Nov 16, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v PSG Stal Nysa
Nov 16, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin
Nov 17, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
Nov 17, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski v PGE Projekt Warsaw
