Third matches forced in both PlusLiga semifinals

Third-match deciders were forced in both best-of-three semifinal playoffs in the Polish PlusLiga after Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj struck back on Wednesday evening to level things up against PGE Projekt Warsaw and BOGDANKA LUK Lublin, respectively.

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Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and PGE Projekt Warsaw engaged in another five-set duel. The visitors from the capital managed to come back from two sets down and tie the match and it was still anybody’s game at 14-14 in the tie-breaker, when Aluron’s middle blockers Mateusz Bieniek with a successful swing and Ukraine’s Yuriy Gladyr with a kill block settled the final score at 3-2 (25-14, 25-22, 23-25, 22-25, 16-14) the home team’s way.

Aluron’s outside hitter Bartosz Kwolek (two aces, five kill blocks) and Projekt’s German opposite Linus Weber (three aces, one kill block) shared the top scorer honors with 18 points each. American outside Aaron Russell added another 16 points for the winners. Opposite Karol Butryn with 12 and Bieniek with 11 also reached the double digits in scoring, while the Most Valuable Player (MVP) recognition went to Aluron’s Portuguese setter Miguel Tavares. Playing only from the third set on, Projekt’s German outside Tobias Brand tallied 14 points. His cross-court teammate Artur Szalpuk put away 12 points, while Ukrainian middle Yurii Semeniuk finished with 10, including four blocks.

“It was a crazy match,” MVP Tavares exclaimed. “We never stopped believing. Even when it seemed like it was impossible, we still believed. We had a lot of courage in attack and in serving and I think that made the difference at the end. We have an amazing team with amazing players, who want to help. It's a great feeling to be a part of it. I'm very happy with this victory. Two crazy matches, both five sets! Now we're going back to Warsaw.”

The deciding third match in Warsaw will be played on Saturday, April 26, at 17:30 local time (15:30 UTC).

Recovering from the surprise upset they suffered at home at the hands of BOGDANKA LUK Lublin, defending PlusLiga champions, regular season winners and Poland Cup laureates Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj “returned the favor” and beat the opponents at their home venue, also getting the job done in four sets, 3-1 (31-29, 15-25, 25-20, 25-22).

Opposite Lukasz Kaczmarek was the winners’ most prolific scorer with 18 points to his name. He spiked at a 65% success rate, aced twice, kill-blocked once and earned the MVP award. Outside Tomasz Fornal produced another 17 points, including three blocks. His Argentinean cross-court teammate Luciano Vicentin, who subbed in for French starter Timothee Carle during the first set, put away 15 points (two aces, one block), including the match winner. Lublin’s star outside Wilfredo Leon was the best scorer of the match with 20 points (three aces, three blocks). Their other outside Mikolaj Sawicki added another 11 (three aces, one block), while Bulgarian middle Aleks Grozdanov raised five kill blocks to finish with a total of 10 points.

The series will be decided on Saturday afternoon in Jastrzebie-Zdroj. The third-leg match will serve off at 14:45 (12:45).

PlusLiga 2024-2025 semifinal playoffs, 3rd leg:
Apr 26, 14:45 local (12:45 UTC): Jastrzebski Wegiel Jastrzebie-Zdroj v BOGDANKA LUK Lublin
Apr 26, 17:30 local (15:30 UTC): PGE Projekt Warsaw v Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie

PlusLiga 2024-2025 fifth-place playoff, 2nd leg:
Apr 24, 17:30 local (15:30 UTC): ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle v Asseco Resovia Rzeszow

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