Lublin looking for rebound against Jastrzebski

The 11-day PlusLiga marathon in Poland continues. Two postponed eighth-leg matches were played on Tuesday and Wednesday and the 14^th leg starts immediately on Thursday. BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj is the leg’s big match, as the home side will be looking to recover from a shocking loss last weekend with a good result against the table leaders and defending champions.

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BOGDANKA LUK Lublin had been undefeated for the first eight matches of the season, but then they quickly collected three losses to drop down to fourth place in the current standings on 28 points and a 10-3 win-loss record. The most shocking defeat came last weekend at their visit to Indykpol AZS Olsztyn. The team that had been struggling to escape from the relegation zone not only beat them, but did so in straight sets. Back at home for their next match, Lublin will certainly be looking for rebound, while facing the toughest possible challenge against reigning champs Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj, who lead the table on 34 and 11-2.

The match is on Saturday, at 17:30 local time (16:30 UTC). It will be the eighth encounter between the two clubs. In the previous seven, Lublin managed to beat mighty Jastrzebski only once, back in December 2022.

In Thursday’s leg-opener, PGE Projekt Warsaw will host PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow at 20:30 (19:30). Projekt are running second in the table on 31 and 11-2, while SKRA are in seventh place on 22 and 8-5, looking to move up at least a notch over the next two legs in order to secure a spot in the Poland Cup competition.

At the same time on Friday, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, who have the same number of points as Projekt, but occupy third place on 10-3, will have a home game against PSG Stal Nysa, a member of the danger zone, standing 14^th on 9 and 2-11.

ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle are travelling to Asseco Resovia Rzeszow for a game at 14:45 (13:45) on Saturday. ZAKSA are currently within the national cup zone, in fifth place on 26 and 8-5. Resovia also have a shot at the top six for the cup, but with their eighth place on 21 and 6-7, that task seems quite challenging to accomplish.

Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa occupy sixth place, right on the edge of the Poland Cup zone, on 24 and 9-4. They will close the 14^th leg on Monday at 20:30 (19:30) with a home game against Trefl Gdansk. Their visitors are in 11^th place on 15 and 4-9.

Indykpol AZS Olsztyn, who stunned BODANKA in the previous leg, backed that up with another win on Tuesday, when they produced a 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 25-17) away victory over Ukraine’s Barkom Kazhany Lviv in a postponed eighth-leg match and drifted farther away from the relegation zone on 14 and 4-9 in 12^th place. German outside hitter Moritz Karlitzek led the way to success with 17 points, while the Most Valuable Player nomination went to middle blocker Szymon Jakubiszak, who raised five kill blocks towards a 15-point tally. Now the squad from Olsztyn will try to extend their winning run even further as they host Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski on Sunday at 17:30 (16:30). The visitors arrive as the ninth-placed team in the table on 19 and 8-5.

Slepsk Malow Suwalki improved to 17 and 7-6 in 10^th place after delivering a hard-fought 3-2 (15-25, 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 15-7) away victory over Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin in another postponed eighth-leg game played on Wednesday evening. Opposite Bartosz Filipiak was their best scorer with 23 points and claimed the MVP award. Now Slepsk have an opportunity to extend their winning streak to four consecutive matches as they visit bottom-placed GKS Katowice on Friday at 17:30 (16:30). GKS are desperate to put a stop to their losing streak of seven matches in a row and look for a way out of the danger zone. They are in 16^th place on 4 and 1-12.

Second from the bottom on 6 and 2-11, Barkom Kazhany Lviv are also hoping to find higher ground as they entertain Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin, fourth from the bottom, in 13^th place on 11 and 3-10. The two teams that lost their midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday will be looking to bounce back as they meat head to head on Sunday at 14:45 (13:45).

PlusLiga 2024-2025 14th leg:
Nov 28, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
Nov 29, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): GKS Katowice v Slepsk Malow Suwalki
Nov 29, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v PSG Stal Nysa
Nov 30, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Nov 30, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj
Dec 01, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin
Dec 01, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Indykpol AZS Olsztyn v Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski
Dec 02, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa v Trefl Gdansk

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