Lublin reclaim top after Projekt’s loss in Rzeszow

The first place in the current standings of the men’s volleyball PlusLiga in Poland changed hands again after previous leaders PGE Projekt Warsaw lost to Asseco Resovia Rzeszow, while BOGDANKA LUK Lublin reclaimed the top with a straight-set victory at PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow over the weekend, as the seven matches of the 17^th leg were played from Friday to Sunday. In another game, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie’s Mateusz Bieniek made headlines by firing as many as eight aces towards his team’s straight-set success.

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Asseco Resovia Rzeszow hammered out a merciless 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-14) shutout of their visitors PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow on Sunday, with a match-high 20 points from opposite Karol Butryn, who spiked at a 60% success rate, raised four kill blocks and added one ace to earn the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Resovia improved to 32 points and an 11-5 win-loss record in third place, while Projekt descended to second place on 34 and 12-4.

BOGDANKA LUK Lublin climbed back up to the top of the table after a 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-16) sweep of their road game at PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow on Saturday. Lublin collected 35 and 12-4 to surpass Projekt, while SKRA dropped a spot to seventh place on 27 and 9-6, with a game in hand. BOGDANKA’s outside hitter Wilfredo Leon contributed 24 points to his team’s victory, swinging at a 75% success rate, firing four aces and raising two stuffs to emerge as the top scorer and the MVP of the game.

A five-set battle unfolded in the leg’s closing match on Sunday. Indykpol AZS Olsztyn celebrated a nail-biting 3-2 (25-17, 25-21, 21-25, 24-26, 18-16) victory and improved to 31 and 11-4, with a game in hand, in fourth place. With the point earned, Trefl ascended one spot to sixth place on 27 and 10-6. Outside hitter Karol Borkowski picked up the MVP nomination. He was the winners’ leading scorer with 20 points, spiking 19 of them at a 68% success rate. Trefl’s opposite Aliaksei Nasevich topped the match chart with 27 points.

Also with a game in hand, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie improved to 30 and 10-5 to stay in fifth place after a 3-0 (25-18, 25-14, 25-19) shutout of their hosts InPost ChKS Chelm on Friday. The PlusLiga rookies fell one position down to 12^th place on 13 and 4-12. Middle blocker Mateusz Bieniek contributed a fantastic eight aces towards the FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship bronze medalists’ victory and came out as the best scorer of the match with a total of 17 points and with the MVP honors.

Things got hotter at the edge of the playoff zone with ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle’s nerve-wracking 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 25-20, 19-17) away victory over JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj. The distance between the two teams, who are neighbors in the table, but standing on the opposite sides of the cut-off line for the quarterfinals, narrowed to just three points. Jastrzebski Wegiel are in eighth place on 25 and 9-7, while ZAKSA are ninth on 22 and 7-9. ZAKSA’s Italian international opposite Kamil Rychlicki spiked 30 points at a 65% success rate and put away two aces and two blocks towards a match-high 34 points to claim the MVP prize.

Slepsk Malow Suwalki made more progress in the scuffle for survival in the league and are now seven points away from the relegation zone after Friday’s 3-1 (25-22, 25-18, 22-25, 25-18) home win over Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa. Slepsk Malow occupy 10^th place on 18 and 5-11, while Steam are stuck at the bottom, in 14^th place on 11 and 3-12, with a game in hand. With a 60% success rate in attack, three kill blocks and two aces, opposite Bartosz Filipiak tallied a total of 30 points to emerge as the top scorer of the match. The MVP honors went to Slepsk Malow’s setter Karol Jankiewicz.

In another game, relevant to the race for survival, Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski achieved a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 29-27) home victory over Barkom Kazhany Lviv on Saturday evening. French outside Mathis Henno led the way with a match-high 20 points, including 17 in attack at a 65% success rate and three aces, and picked up the MVP award. Cuprum Stilon rose from the bottom of the standings to 11^th place on 14 and 4-12, while the Ukrainian team dropped to second from the bottom, in 13^th place on 11 and 3-13, with a better set ratio than Steam.

The 18^th leg will spread out from Thursday, January 22, to Tuesday, January 27.

PlusLiga 2025-2026 18th-leg schedule:
Jan 22, 20:15 local (19:15 UTC): Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski v Energa Trefl Gdansk
Jan 24, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
Jan 24, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow
Jan 24, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v Barkom Kazhany Lviv
Jan 25, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj
Jan 26, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa v InPost ChKS Chelm
Jan 27, 20:00 local (19:00 UTC): Indykpol AZS Olsztyn v Slepsk Malow Suwalki

PlusLiga 2025-2026 schedule and results

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