All PlusLiga playoff spots taken

With two legs to go to the end of the regular season in the Polish PlusLiga, the names of all quarterfinalists are now known. The last two remaining vacancies in the playoffs were booked by PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow and Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa as the games of the 28^th leg unfolded.

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Even before the start of Monday evening’s closing match of the leg between GKS Katowice and PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow, the visitors had secured their quarterfinal berth thanks to earlier results over the weekend. They went ahead and hammered out a 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 25-19) shutout of their second-division-bound hosts and consolidated in seventh place in the current standings on 48 points and a 16-12 win-loss record. GKS are 15^th on 15 and 5-24. SKRA’s Iranian opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad was the best scorer of the match with 16 points.

The previous evening, for the first time in the club’s history, Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa stamped their ticket to the playoffs with a 3-1 (25-24, 22-25, 25-19, 25-22) home win over Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski. Their Czech opposite Patrik Indra topped the match charts with 20 points. Norwid cemented the eighth place on 43 and 15-13, with an option to go up, but not down the table, by the end of the regular season. Cuprum Stilon, on the other hand, are now mathematically safe from relegation, standing in 12^th place on 28 and 11-17.

In fact, the last question remaining is about the third relegation spot that could go to either 13^th-placed PSG Stal Nysa or 14^th-placed Barkom Kazhany Lviv, currently standing five points from one another and set for a head-to-head clash in the last leg. In Thursday’s leg opener, Ukraine’s Barkom Kazhany Lviv failed to narrow that gap as they lost their home game against ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle. ZAKSA celebrated a 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 27-29, 25-17) victory and improved to 58 and 20-8 in fifth place, leaving Barkom Kazhany in 14^th on 20 and 7-21. The winners’ star opposite Bartosz Kurek contributed a match-high 25 points.

PSG Stal Nysa also failed to take advantage of the Ukrainian team’s defeat to secure their survival in the league just yet, as they suffered a 3-0 (25-19, 28-26, 25-19) shutout at the hands of their hosts Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj. French outside hitter Timothee Carle and opposite Lukasz Kaczmarek led the defending champions with 14 points apiece. Jastrzebski Wegiel are now just a point away from securing a regular season victory, as they stand six points clear on top of the table, on 72 and 23-5. The suspense for Stal continues, as they are just above the relegation zone, in 13^th place on 25 and 7-21.

Surprisingly, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie lost a point at home to bottom-placed Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin and that cost them the second place in the current table. They dropped to third on 66 and 22-6 after a 3-2 (25-11, 17-25, 25-19, 26-28, 15-5) win. Opposite Karol Butryn was the top scorer of the match with 22 points. Doomed Nowak-Mosty continue to be stuck to the 16^th place on 13 and 3-25.

PGE Projekt Warsaw took over the second place on 66 and 24-4 after a 3-0 (25-22, 25-21, 25-19) sweep of their home game against Trefl Gdansk, who are now out of contention for the playoffs, in 10^th place on 34 and 11-17. German opposite Linus Weber spearheaded Projekt to victory with 16 points.

BOGDANKA LUK Lublin mastered a 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-12) home victory over Indykpol AZS Olsztyn and kept in fourth place on 60 and 20-8, leaving the opponent out of contention for the playoffs, in 11^th place on 34 and 10-18. Lublin’s Bulgarian opposite Aleks Grozdanov was impeccable on the court and earned the MVP award with a match-high 14 points, raising five kill blocks and registering a 100% success rate in attack.

Asseco Resovia Rzeszow put the brakes on Slepsk Malow Suwalki’s hopes for a playoff berth with a 3-1 (25-16, 18-25, 25-20, 28-26) home victory. With only one match left to play, Slepsk Malow are four points below the cut-off, in ninth place on 39 and 14-15. Resovia stand sixth on 54 and 17-11. Their French opposite Stephen Boyer fired five aces towards a match-high 22 points.

The seven remaining fixtures of the 29^th leg are scheduled from Friday, March 14, to Monday, March 17.

PlusLiga 2024-2025 29th leg:
Mar 14, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Cuprum Stilon Gorzow Wielkopolski v Indykpol AZS Olsztyn
Mar 14, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): PSG Stal Nysa v Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie
Mar 15, 14:45 local (13:45 UTC): Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v BOGDANKA LUK Lublin
Mar 15, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow
Mar 15, 20:30 local (19:30 UTC): Nowak-Mosty MKS Bedzin v Barkom Kazhany Lviv
Mar 16, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): PGE GiEK SKRA Belchatow v PGE Projekt Warsaw
Mar 17, 17:30 local (16:30 UTC): Trefl Gdansk v Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa

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