The last leg of the first half of the Polish PlusLiga regular season starts on Friday and ends on Monday and will be highlighted by two of the fixtures on Sunday’s programme. A titanic clash between the second and the first in the current standings - Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj – will serve off at 14:45 local time (13:45 UTC), while a head-to-head duel for the last available PlusLiga ticket to the TAURON Poland Cup quarterfinals between PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow and Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa will get underway at 20:30 (19:30).
PlusLiga 2024-2025
SKRA and Norwid in head-to-head battle for Poland Cup spot
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Published 09:23, 05 Dec 2024
SKRA ready for an important battle (photo: Pawel Piotrowski / plusliga.pl)
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The top six in the PlusLiga standings after the end of the 15th leg will qualify for the national cup quarterfinals. Five of those berths have already been booked. One is still up for grabs, with PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow and Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa the only two candidates for it. Before their trip to Belchatow, Norwid occupy the sixth place on 25 points and a 9-5 win-loss record, while their hosts SKRA are seventh on 23 and 8-6. That means that a 3-0 or a 3-1 victory for the home team would qualify them for the cup. Otherwise, Norwid will keep their spot.
The two clubs have previously met three times in official matches, with SKRA winning two of them. Last PlusLiga season they exchanged three-point victories at home.
A switch at the top of the table will occur this weekend, if Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie gain the full three points from their home game against Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj. The defending champions and current leaders stand on 37 and 12-2, while second-placed Aluron are exactly three points behind, on 34 and 11-3, and will overtake their opponents by set ratio, if they win by 3-0 or 3-1.
The official head-to-head balance between the two clubs stands at 18-9 Jastrzebski Wegiel’s way. However, Aluron have won five of the seven most recent encounters, including September’s Poland Super Cup final, in which they celebrated a five-set victory after an epic 23-21 tie-breaker.
The 15th leg will open at 20:30 (19:30) on Friday, with Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski hosting BOGDANKA LUK Lublin. Cuprum are in 10th place on 19 and 8-6, while BOGDANKA are fourth on 28 and 10-4.
Also on 28 points, but a 9-5 win-loss record, sixth-placed ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle will welcome bottom-placed GKS Katowice on Saturday at 20:30 (19:30). The visitors are 16th in the standings on 4 and 1-13.
Earlier on Saturday, at 14:45 (13:45): third-placed PGE Projekt Warsaw will play at Slepsk Malow Suwalki, hoping to stay closer to the two leaders and possibly even surpass one of them. The squad from the capital is one point below Aluron, on 33, and the same win-loss record as Jastrzebski, 12-2. Meanwhile, Slepsk are just below the cut-off line for the playoffs, in ninth place on 20 and 8-6.
Saturday’s programme will also offer a clash important for the survival race in the relegation zone. At 17:30 (16:30), 15th-placed PSG Stal Nysa will entertain 14th-placed Barkom Kazhany Lviv. The two sides are on 9 points each, but the Ukrainian team has collected more victories, 3-11 against 2-12.
Sunday’s competition day will also feature three matches. In addition to the above-mentioned highlights, Indykpol AZS Olsztyn will host Trefl Gdansk at 17:30 (16:30). The two teams are also neighbours in the table on 17 and 5-9 each. Trefl edge Indykpol for the 11th place narrowly on set ratio.
Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin and Asseco Resovia Rzeszow will have the honour of playing the half-season’s closing match on Monday at 20:30 (19:30). For the hosts from Bedzin, the game is important in the context of survival, as they are just above the relegation zone, in 13th place on 11 and 3-11. For the visitors from Rzeszow, it is about staying within the playoff zone and potentially climbing up from the eighth place they are occupying on 22 and 6-8.
PlusLiga 2024-2025 15th leg:
Dec 06, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski v BOGDANKA LUK Lublin
Dec 07, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Slepsk Malow Suwalki v PGE Projekt Warsaw
Dec 07, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v Barkom Kazhany Lviv
Dec 07, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle v GKS Katowice
Dec 08, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj
Dec 08, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Indykpol AZS Olsztyn v Trefl Gdansk
Dec 08, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow v Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa
Dec 09, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow
