Chemik determined to build momentum in the Tauron Liga

Defending champions Lotto Chemik Police went through a winless month in the Polish Women’s Tauron Liga, but after turning that page, they want to build some momentum and take their season in a new direction.

Chemik are currently in ninth place in the Tauron Liga with six points (two wins, seven losses) and at the same time that their position puts them just one point below the playoff line, it also doesn’t entirely separate them from the bottom of the standings, giving them only a four-point edge over 12^th-placed Sokół & Hagric Mogilno, who would be relegated if the season ended now.

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On Friday, at 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT), the defending champions will have another opportunity to move up in the standings, hosting fifth-placed #VolleyWrocław in the opening match of the eighth leg of the regular season.

Chemik get to the match motivated after interrupting a winless streak that started on October 6, when they fell to MOYA Radomka Radom in the second leg. After that, defeats against ITA TOOLS STAL Mielec, BKS BOSTIK ZGO Bielsko-Biała, ŁKS Commercecon Łódź and Metalkas Pałac Bydgoszcz followed, sending the winners of nine of the last 11 editions of the Tauron Liga to as low as 11^th place.

The team gave signs of improvement last weekend, sweeping UNI Opole to gain two spots in the standings and will now try to stay in good form against #VolleyWrocław, an opponent they’ve defeated 26 times in 29 encounters, including the 14 most recent ones.

“The fight at the bottom of the standings is tough, teams will battle for every point and every set,” Chemik’s head coach Dawid Michor said. “The results are unpredictable and we’ll only know what’s going to happen at the end. We should probably have earned points against Mielec and Bydgoszcz, but ended up getting nothing. But we managed to get all three points against Opole, who are higher ranked, on the road and are very happy about it. Now we keep battling.”

The Tauron Liga’s fifth-best scorer with 108 points, opposite Julia Hewelt has been one of Chemik’s top players this season. Middle blocker Dominika Pierzchała, who ranks second among the blockers with 27 points, is also having a productive season.

Their opponents #VolleyWrocław are currently in fifth place with ten points (four wins, three losses) and also returned to winning ways last weekend – they overcame Bydgoszcz after back-to-back defeats. The team has big aspirations for the season.

“We’ll keep fighting,” outside hitter Kinga Stronias remarked. “Making it to the playoffs is the minimum goal we’ve set for ourselves, but I believe we’ll fight for something bigger.”

VolleyWrocław have Cuban outside hitter Diaris Pérez tied with Hewelt for fifth place in the scoring table with 108 points and middle blocker Judyta Gawlak appearing in third place among the blockers, with 23 stops.

Fight for the top continues

At the top of the table, the fight for first place in the standings continues this weekend, with all three candidates in action. Commercecon, who emerged to the top last weekend and have 19 points (six wins, one loss), will try to defend their spot on Sunday, at 20:30 local time (19:30 GMT), playing sixth-placed Radomka on the road.

On Monday, second-placed KS DevelopRes Rzeszów, who have 18 points (seven wins), will try to continue their undefeated campaign against the tenth-placed Mielec at 17:30 (16:30), on the road. On the same day, at 19:00 (18:00), third-placed PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź, who have 16 points (five wins, one loss), host Bydgoszcz.

Also in the eighth leg of the regular season, on Monday, eighth-placed Energa MKS Kalisz welcome fourth-placed Bielsko-Biała at 16:00 (15:00) and seventh-placed Opole host 12^th-placed Mogilno at 20:30 (19:30).

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