Commercecon and Mielec headed to match three on Sunday

Three of the four best-of-three series of the quarterfinal round of the 2024-2025 Polish Women’s Tauron Liga playoffs were resolved in two duels, with KS DevelopRes Rzeszów, PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź and BKS BOSTIK ZGO Bielsko-Biała claiming the first spots in the semifinals.

The series involving ŁKS Commercecon Łódź and ITA TOOLS STAL Mielec, however, remains open after the teams split wins in the first two encounters, creating the need for a third and decisive duel, which will be held on Sunday, at 17:30 local time (16:30 GMT), in Łódź.

• Watch the Polish Tauron Liga playoffs live on VBTV

After surprisingly dropping the first match of the series at home one week earlier, Commercecon, the second-best team in the regular season, displayed a different sense of urgency against Mielec on Thursday, downing their opponents 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-17) to remain alive in the Polish League.

“Getting this victory today is just half of the job, so we’re happy, but are already thinking about Sunday,” setter Marlena Kowalewska, who earned the match’s MVP award, said. “We were obviously nervous but we did a good job of controlling our emotions and we always believed we could win today. Sunday’s match will be very demanding both physically and mentally and I really hope that we win because we deserve it.”

The team coached by former Polish national team player Zbigniew Bartman heavily relied on Olympian Natalia Mędrzyk to prevail on the win-or-go-home match, as the outside hitter was their top scorer with 17 points (15 kills, one block, one ace), followed by opposite Weronika Gierszewska and fellow outside hitter Zuzanna Górecka, who produced 13 each.

Mielec got ten points from each of opposite Oliwia Sieradzka and outside hitter Aleksandra Kazała.

“Everyone knows Commercecon are the favorites to win the series,” Sieradzka reflected. “We played brilliantly in the first match, but couldn’t do the same today, also because they didn’t give us much of a chance to do it. But we’ve been playing very well in the last few weeks, and we’re capable of winning the next match.”

DevelopRes, Budowlani and Bielsko-Biała advance

The other three series had the best-ranked teams prevailing in two matches. Regular season winners DevelopRes ended their duel with defending champions LOTTO Chemik Police by securing a 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 28-26) road win on Wednesday – they had won 3-1 at home on Saturday.

Star middle blocker Agnieszka Korneluk led the way for DevelopRes, registering 13 points (ten kills, two blocks, one ace) against her former team while setter Katarzyna Wenerska received the match’s MVP award.

Budowlani, who were third in the regular season, handed Metalkas Pałac Bydgoszcz their second sweep in five days, winning 3-0 (26-24, 25-17, 25-13) on the road on Wednesday to move forward. With 15 points (eight kills, five blocks, two aces), outside hitter Paulina Damaske was the match’s top scorer and got the MVP award.

After entering the playoffs in fourth place, Bielsko-Biała became the first team guaranteed in the semifinals after they downed MOYA Radomka Radom 3-0 (25-21, 25-19, 25-20) on the road on Monday, following up on a 3-1 home win earned last Thursday. The reigning Polish Supercup champions counted on 15 points from each of outside hitter Julita Piasecka and Estonian opposite Kertu Laak to win the match and had libero Kinga Drabek named as the MVP.

The semifinal series between DevelopRes and Bielsko-Biała is scheduled to start on April 4, in Rzeszów, while Budowlani wait for the conclusion of the fourth quarterfinal series to find out who their opponents will be.

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