Fourth-placed Bielsko-Biała will be their next opponents on Saturday
Published 09:00, 28 Nov 2024
Polish national team libero Maria Stenzel is one of the pillars of the Tauron Liga leaders (Photo: Tauron Liga)
After beating KS DevelopRes Rzeszów to remain at the top of the standings in the 2024-2025 Polish Women’s Tauron Liga, ŁKS Commercecon Łódź are set to face another team in the tournament’s top four this weekend.
On Saturday, the league leaders will be back at home to face fourth-placed BKS BOSTIK ZGO Bielsko-Biała at 12:30 local time (11:30 GMT), in one of the six matches of the tenth leg of the regular season in Poland.
Commercecon enter Saturday’s encounter looking to extend the seven-match winning streak that took them from fourth to first place. Since their five-set loss to Metalkas Pałac Bydgoszcz in the second leg, the team hasn’t dropped any points, winning all their encounters in three or four sets.
“I am happy with the team’s performance in Rzeszów and I believe it’s going to give the players a lot of confidence,” said head coach Alessandro Chiappini. “We are trying to play our best in every match, win as many points as possible, play wisely when necessary and with power when we have to. We are in first place now, but we still have two difficult matches ahead of us, against Bielsko-Biała and PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź, so everything is possible. I’m happy that after playing a terrible match in Bydgoszcz we managed not to drop any more points.”
Among the team’s standouts are Ukrainian opposite Anastasiia Hryshchuk, the league’s top scorer with 164 points, outside hitter Anna Obiała, who’s third in aces with 13, and the third, four and fifth-best passers of the Tauron Liga, outside hitters Regiane Bidias (53.25%) and Zuzanna Górecka (51.50%) and libero Maria Stenzel (51.19%).
Commercecon are clear at the top of the Tauron Liga table with 25 points (eight wins, one loss) and have a three-point lead over second-placed Budowlani and a four-point gap to third-placed DevelopRes.
The reigning Polish Cup and Supercup champions, Bielsko-Biała are far behind in fourth place with 18 points, but considering they played only seven matches, compared to nine of most of the other teams, and dropped just one of them, it’s fair to assume they are in the race for first place. Undefeated in their last four matches, they could significantly close the gap with a victory over the leaders.
With 26 blocks, middle blocker Joanna Pacak ranks fifth in the league in that skill. The team’s top scorer with 112 points, outside hitter Julita Piasecka ranks 13th in the league and has won match MVP awards more times than any other player in the league, with four trophies.
Commercecon have the historical advantage in the encounter, having won 15 of the 22 previous duels. Bielsko-Biała have, however, triumphed in both matches of the 2023-2024 season.
The tenth leg of the regular season begins on Friday, with tenth-placed Energa MKS Kalisz facing seventh-placed #VolleyWrocław at 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT). On Saturday, 11th-placed ITA TOOLS STAL Mielec, who appointed a new coach in Miłosz Majka, play against ninth-placed Bydgoszcz at 16:00 local time (15:00 GMT).
The weekend schedule continues on Sunday, with two encounters - at 19:00 local time (18:00 GMT), fifth-placed UNI Opole meet third-placed DevelopRes, and at 20:30 local time (19:30 GMT), 12th-placed Sokół & Hagric Mogilno host sixth-placed MOYA Radomka Radom. The last match will have eighth-placed LOTTO Chemik Police meeting second-placed PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź on Monday, at 17:30 local time (16:30 GMT).
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