ZAKSA’s star Bartosz Kurek celebrates (photo: PRESSFOCUS / plusliga.pl)

ZAKSA’s star Bartosz Kurek celebrates (photo: PRESSFOCUS / plusliga.pl)

In the most anticipated match of the 23rd leg in the Polish PlusLiga, ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle edged BOGDANKA LUK Lublin after a five-set battle, stopping just short of overtaking the opponent in the current standings. In the other high-level clash of the leg, however, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow took what they needed from their trip to Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa to surpass the opponent in the table and take over the sixth place.

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BOGDANKA LUK Lublin came back from a two-set deficit to level the score in Saturday’s away match at ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle and push it to a fifth-set decider, but the home team persevered to win the tie-breaker and celebrated a 3-2 (25-20, 25-14, 23-25, 22-25, 15-11) victory. Now on 47 points and a 16-6 win-loss record with a game in hand, ZAKSA caught up with BOGDANKA, who are on 47 and 16-7, but Lublin kept their fifth place in the current standings on a better set ratio, leaving their rival in sixth for now. ZAKSA’s star opposite Bartosz Kurek led the way with 22 points, including one ace and one kill block, while the Most Valuable Player nomination went to outside hitter Rafal Szymura, who put away 20 points, all in attack. His Belgian cross-court teammate Igor Grobelny added another 19 points (three aces, two blocks), while BOGDANKA’s outside Wilfredo Leon and opposite Mateusz Malinowski finished with 18 and 17 points, respectively.

On Sunday, Asseco Resovia Rzeszow produced a 3-1 (25-21, 20-25, 27-25, 25-23) away victory over Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa and overtook them in sixth place on 40 and 12-11. Norwid dropped to seventh on 37 and 13-10. French opposite Stephen Boyer led the winners with 22 points, including one ace and two blocks, and earned the MVP award. Outside hitters Bartosz Bednorz and Lukas Vasina added 18 and 17 points, respectively, towards Resovia’s success. Vasina’s Czech compatriot and Norwid’s opposite Patrik Indra topped the charts of the match with 23 points, including three aces.

“The most important thing is the victory, because we didn't play our best volleyball,” Boyer told PlusLiga.pl. “However, I am happy with how we stuck together in this match and fought until the end, because our opponents put a lot of pressure on us. I think that, in terms of the level of play, it wasn't our best match, but what matters is that we won it and claimed three very important points. I liked how we were in the game all the time and fought, even if the game wasn't going well for us and there were difficult moments. It was downright crazy, because the fight was really intense. After all, we were up against a very good team. So I am satisfied with our attitude.”

No other upsets occurred in the remaining matches of the leg and the favourites lived up to the expectations.

PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow also caught up with Norwid on 37 points, but remained below them in the table on fewer wins, in eighth place on 12-11, after mastering a 3-0 (25-20, 27-25, 25-22) shutout of PSG Stal Nysa at home. SKRA’s Iranian opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad was the best scorer of the match with 23 points, including four aces. Stal are hanging on to the last place above the red line for relegation. They are 13th on 19 and 5-18.

Table leaders Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj achieved a 3-1 (25-19, 21-25, 25-20-25-23) win on the road at Trefl Gdansk. Outside Tomasz Fornal aced three times and raised two kill blocks to lead the defending champions’ scorers with 21 points and claim the MVP honour. Opposite Lukasz Kaczmarek added another 20 points, while his counterpart Aliaksei Nasevich put away a match-high 23 points for Trefl. Jastrzebski Wegiel improved to 60 and 19-4, while Trefl fell one spot down the standings, to 11th place on 28 and 9-14.

They were surpassed by Indykpol AZS Olsztyn, who took a 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 19-25, 25-21) home victory over Barkom Kazhany Lviv with a 20-point match high from Czech opposite Jan Hadrava and improved to 31 and 9-13. The Ukrainian team remained below the relegation line, in 14th place on 16 and 6-17.

Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie consolidated in second place on 55 and 18-5 with a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-22) sweep of their game at Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski, who remained in 12th place on 27 and 11-12. American outside Aaron Russell led the winners with 15 points, while Cuprum Stilon’s Brazilian opposite Chizoba Neves topped the match charts with 16.

Third-placed PGE Projekt Warsaw also earned three points on the road, 3-1 (25-21, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15) at GKS Katowice, to improve to 52 and 19-4. GKS are stuck to the bottom of the table, in 16th place on 9 and 3-20. German outside Tobias Brand was Projekt’s best scorer of the match with 17 points, including four aces. His Tunisian counterpart Aymen Bouguerra hammered a match-high 24 for the home team.

In the leg’s closing match on Monday evening, Slepsk Malow Suwalki delivered a 3-1 (25-19, 25-23, 26-28, 25-17) home victory over Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin, thus staying within five points from the playoff zone, in ninth place on 32 and 12-11. Nowak-Mosty are second from the bottom, in 15th place on 12 and 3-20. Slepsk Malow’s opposite Bartosz Filipiak fired a match-high 26 points towards his team’s success.

The 24th leg will start on Thursday, February 6, and end on Monday, February 10.

PlusLiga 2024-2025 24rd leg:
Feb 06, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Barkom Kazhany Lviv v Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski
Feb 07, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): BOGDANKA LUK Lublin v PGE Projekt Warsaw
Feb 08, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie v Trefl Gdansk
Feb 08, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Asseco Resovia Rzeszow v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Feb 08, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): GKS Katowice v Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa
Feb 09, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow
Feb 09, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v Slepsk Malow Suwalki
Feb 10, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin v ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle