SKRA leave ZAKSA winless after thrilling reverse sweep

PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow came back from two sets down against ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle at home on Monday evening to mount a thrilling reverse sweep and leave the prominent opponents winless after the completion of the first three legs in Poland’s men’s volleyball PlusLiga new season.

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In the most interesting of the seven matches of the third leg, played between Friday and Monday, PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow celebrated a 3-2 (21-25, 21-25, 26-24, 27-25, 15-13) home win over ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle. After falling behind in the first two sets and making a number of changes to their squad, SKRA won each of the three sets of their reverse sweep by the narrowest of margins and two of them were even pushed to overtime. With this result, SKRA improved to 6 points and a 2-1 win-loss record to stay in fifth place in the current standings, while ZAKSA remained winless on 2 and 0-3, and stand fourth from the bottom, in 11^th place.

Spiking at a 56% success rate, SKRA’s 35-year-old sub-in opposite Bartosz Krzysiek led the team with 15 points, including one ace and one kill block, and earned the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. Another three SKRA players reached the double digits – middle blocker Bartlomiej Lemanski and French outside hitter Antoine Pothron with 13 each, and sub-in outside Zouheir Elgraoui of Morocco with 10. Italian international opposite Kamil Rychlicki emerged as the best scorer of the match with 18 points for ZAKSA, while his teammate, middle blocker Karol Urbanowicz, headlined ZAKSA’s brilliant blocking effort with six of the team’s 16 kill blocks during the match.

In another high-profile game of the third leg, a remake of last season’s bronze medal playoff, PGE Projekt Warsaw mastered a 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-22) shutout of match hosts JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj on Saturday. German opposite Linus Weber led the way to success with a match-high 18 points, firing four aces and spiking at a 56% success rate in attack. The MVP recognition went to French outside Kevin Tillie, who contributed 13 points, including two kill blocks, and handled well 75% of the opponent serves he processed. Projekt top the table on a perfect 9 and 3-0, without a set dropped so far this season. After suffering their first loss, Jastrzebski Wegiel stand eighth on 5 and 2-1.

Defending champions BOGDANKA LUK Lublin stayed undefeated on 8 and 3-0 in second place after a 3-0 (25-22, 25-14, 25-19) sweep of their away match against PlusLiga rookies InPost ChKS Chelm, who are now in 10^th place on 2 and 1-2. Star outside hitter Wilfredo Leon was the match MVP and the winners’ leading scorer with 14 points – four aces and 10 spike kills at a 71% success rate. His Iranian counterpart Amirhossein Esfandiar topped that with 15 points for Chelm and emerged as the best scorer of the game.

Asseco Resovia Rzeszow also added a third win to their record to stay unbeaten and climb to third place on 8 and 3-0. They hammered out a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-23) home victory over Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski with a team-high 14 points by MVP Artur Szalpuk. The outside hitter spiked at a 63% success rate and hit a couple of aces. His Cuprum Stilon counterpart Kamil Kwasowski topped the match charts with 15 points, including two aces and two blocks. The team from Gorzow Wielkopolski is still winless, in 12^th place on 1 and 0-3.

With a 3-0 (25-22, 25-23, 25-23) win on the road at Slepsk Malow Suwalki in the leg opener on Friday, Energa Trefl Gdansk climbed to fourth place on 6 and 2-1 and left the opponents at the bottom of the table, in 14^th place on 0 and 0-3. German outside Tobias Brand registered a 64% success rate in attack and spearheaded the winners with a match-high 20 points, including two aces and two blocks, to earn the MVP award.

Last season’s silver medalists Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie produced a 3-0 (25-17, 25-22, 27-25) shutout of Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Czestochowa at home to improve to 6 and 2-1 in sixth place. Steam are second from the bottom, in 13^th place on 1 and 0-3. The MVP honors went to middle blocker captain Mateusz Bieniek, who led the winners with 16 points, including three blocks and two aces. Steam’s 18-year-old outside Jakub Kiedos was the best scorer of the match with 19 points, including two aces and two blocks. Each of the two also signed off with a 65% success rate in offense.

In the third leg’s closing game on Monday evening, Indykpol AZS Olsztyn brought home a 3-1 (21-25, 25-19, 27-25, 25-23) win over their Ukrainian hosts Barkom Kazhany Lviv in Elblag, with a team-high 18 points from German outside and MVP Moritz Karlitzek, including two blocks. Barkom Kazhany’s Australian outside Lorenzo Pope topped the match charts with 22 points, including four aces. He registered a 69% success rate in attack. On 6 and 2-1, Indykpol stand seventh in the table, two spots above Barkom Kazhany, ninth on 3 and 1-2.

PlusLiga action will resume on Tuesday, November 4, with an early fixture from the 12^th leg, followed by two midweek games from the fourth leg on Thursday, November 6. In between, on Wednesday, November 5, at 20:30 local time (19:30 UTC), the Poland Super Cup final between BOGDANKA LUK Lublin and JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj will be played in Katowice.

PlusLiga 2025-2026 upcoming matches:
Nov 04, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski v Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie
Nov 06, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Indykpol AZS Olsztyn v Energa Trefl Gdansk
Nov 06, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow

AL-KO Poland Super Cup 2025 men’s final:
Nov 05, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v JSW Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj

PlusLiga 2025-2026 schedule and results

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