PlusLiga: Resovia back from two sets down; 10th leg starts on Friday

In a postponed match of the first leg in the Polish PlusLiga regular season, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow mounted a huge comeback from two sets down to defeat PSG Stal Nysa on Wednesday, two days before the start of the 10^th leg, which will offer another eight exciting fixtures from Friday to Monday, November 1 to 4.

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Spearheaded by French opposite Stephen Boyer, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow produced a nail-biting turnaround in their home game against PSG Stal Nysa, played in front of 2,500 spectators on Wednesday evening, and celebrated a 3-2 (23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 27-25, 15-9) victory. After leading by 24-22 in the fourth set, the visitors had as many as three opportunities to close the match, but Resovia managed to deny all three of these match points before pushing the game into a deciding fifth set. Boyer led the way with a match-high 26 points, including four kill blocks, and claimed the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Slovenian outside hitter Klemen Cebulj, who was not among the starters for the first two sets, made his solid contribution towards the comeback with 17 points, all in attack at a 65% success rate. Opposite Dawid Dulski, with 19 points, and Moroccan outside Zouheir El-Graoui, with 18, were Stal’s most prolific players.

This win lifted Asseco Resovia Rzeszow above the cut-off line for the playoffs in the current standings, to eighth place on 14 points and a 4-5 win-loss record. In their next match, on Sunday at 17:30 local time (16:30 UTC), they will play at home again, this time facing Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski, the team they surpassed in the table and pushed down to ninth place, on 13 and 5-4. Despite the fewer points, Cuprum have won more matches this season than Resovia. The club from Rzeszow, however, leads the historic head-to-head series against their opponents from Gorzow Wielkopolski by 12 wins to 8.

PSG Stal Nysa, on the other hand, stayed in 12^th place, now on 8 and 2-6. Next, they will face another powerhouse, ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle, on Sunday at 14:45 (13:45), this time at home. ZAKSA are placed fifth in the current standings on 17 and 5-4.

The PlusLiga “weekend” will start on Friday at 17:30 (16:30) with the league’s only foreign participant, Ukraine’s Barkom Kazhany Lviv, hosting Trefl Gdansk. Barkom are third from the bottom, in 14^th place, on 3 and 1-7, while Trefl are three positions higher, on 10 and 3-6.

Also on Friday, at 20:30 (19:30), the two teams below Barkom, also on three points and one win each, 16^th-placed GKS Katowice and 15^th-placed Indykpol AZS Olsztyn, will lock horns in a direct battle for their second victory of the season, which would bring an important boost in the race for avoiding relegation. The game will be played in Katowice.

Saturday’s programme includes three fixtures and start at 14:45 (13:45) with a high-level clash between Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow. The hosts from Zawercie are in fourth place on 19 and 6-3, while SKRA are seventh on 14 and 5-3, and a game in hand.

BOGDANKA LUK Lublin will try to recover from their first loss of the season, which they suffered last Saturday, as they welcome Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin at 17:30 (16:30). Lublin are now in third place on 22 and 8-1, while their visitors are situated just above the red line for relegation, in 13^th place on 7 and 2-6.

Saturday’s late match will also offer a high-calibre duel. Starting at 20:30 (19:30), second-placed PGE Projekt Warsaw, the team that handed BOGDANKA their only defeat last weekend to climb to second place on 23 and 8-1, will entertain trending Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa, standing sixth on 15 and 6-3.

The leg will be closed with a game on Monday, when defending champions and table leaders Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj (25, 8-1) host 10^th-placed Slepsk Malow Suwalki (11, 8-4) at 17:30 (16:30).

PlusLiga 2024-2025 10th leg:
Nov 1, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v Trefl Gdansk
Nov 1, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): GKS Katowice v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Nov 2, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
Nov 2, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin
Nov 2, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa
Nov 3, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle
Nov 3, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow v Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski
Nov 4, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v Slepsk Malow Suwalki

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