ZAKSA start PlusLiga quarterfinals with a road win

Ten-time Polish champions ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle were the only team to win on the road in the first round of the quarterfinals of the 2024-2025 PlusLiga and will have the opportunity to bring their best-of-three series against BOGDANKA LUK Lublin to an end in front of their home fans next week.

The other three series had hosts JSW Jastrzębski Węgiel, PGE Projekt Warszaw and Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie starting ahead and getting one step closer to the semifinals.

• Watch the PlusLiga on VBTV.

The last match of the weekend, on Saturday, the duel between ZAKSA and Lublin had the visitors starting behind to come back and win 3-1 (23-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-19) and silence the home crowd.

Polish national team captain and opposite Bartosz Kurek won the individual battle with star outside hitter and international teammate Wilfredo Leon and took home the match’s MVP award after he produced a match-high 22 points (18 kills, two blocks, two aces), six moth than Leon, who tallied 16 (12 kills, two blocks, two aces) for Lublin.

“We know how well Lublin can play and were aware it was going to be a tough match,” Kurek reacted. “Our main goal was to show our best volleyball from start to finish without worrying if it would be enough and that’s what we did. We wouldn’t have won if we hadn’t played well and I’m proud of my teammates because we had to overcome some problems to do it. It was a great first step, but we need to be ready for the second match.”

ZAKSA had two other players getting to double digits in scoring in outside hitters Igor Grobelny (13) and Rafał Szymura (11), while Lublin’s opposite Kewin Sasak was the match’s second-best scorer with 19, all in kills.

Also on Saturday, Aluron were dominant at home to overcome Asseco Resovia Rzeszów 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 21-25, 25-21) and get the first of two victories they need to make it to the semifinals.

Aluron heavily relied on their outside hitters to secure the win as Bartosz Kwolek led the team with 17 points (14 kills, two blocks, one ace) and received the MVP award, while American Olympic medalist Aaron Russell registered 16, all in kills.

Slovenian national team outside hitter Klemen Čebulj notched 18 points (15 kills, two aces, one block) for Assecco and was the match’s top scorer.

Jastrzebski Wegiel and Projekt Warszaw get sweeps

The best team in the regular season, Jastrzebski Wegiel started the playoffs with a strong performance and benefited from homecourt advantage to beat eighth-placed Steam Hemarpol Norwid Czestochowa 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 26-24) on Friday, in the first match of the PlusLiga postseason, on Friday.

Paris 2024 Olympic silver medalists Łukasz Kaczmarek and Tomasz Fornal combined for 27 points, with the opposite delivering 14 (nine kills, five blocks) and the outside hitter chipping in another 13, with 11 kills, one block and one ace – French two-time Olympic champion setter Benjamin Toniutti was the MVP. Norwid had the match’s top scorer in Czech opposite Patrik Indra, who tallied 19 points (17 kills, two aces).

“I thought we played a great match,” middle blocker Norbert Huber said. “We were able to bring our best game and were in control the entire time, not allowing them to push us too much. The sets were even up to a certain point, but then we managed to create some separation and keep the lead until the end.”

Also on Friday, Projekt Warszaw, who ranked second in the regular, needed just three sets as well to start ahead of PGE GiEK SKRA Bełchatów, winning the first duel between the teams 3-0 (25-23, 25-23, 27-25) in front of their home fans.

Polish national team outside hitter Artur Szalpuk had a tremendous performance, leading the team with 22 points (18 kills, three aces, one block) and was the match’s MVP. SKRA got 19 points from Iranian national team opposite Amin Esmaeilnezhad, who left the court with 18 kills and one ace to his name.

The second matches of two of the four series will be held on Tuesday, when Norwid host Jastrzebski Wegiel and ZAKSA play at home against Lublin, while the other two matchups will only continue next Saturday, with Asseco facing Aluron at home and SKRA hosting Projekt Warsaw.

Quick links:
Polish PlusLiga
VBTV
Volleyball World Facebook
Volleyball World X
Volleyball World Instagram
Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter