Watch Commercecon vs. Budowlani and DevelopRes vs. Bielsko-Biała live on VBTV
Published 09:00, 03 Apr 2025
Polish national team middle blocker blocker Agnieszka Korneluk can be a factor in the series between DevelopRes and Bielsko-Biała (Photo: Tauron Liga)
After overcoming the quarterfinal round of the playoffs last week, the four best teams of the 2024-2025 Polish Women’s Tauron Liga regular season are now set to compete in the semifinals, with the top sides advancing to the Finals.
The two best-of-three series will get started on Friday, with ŁKS Commercecon Łódź and PGE Grot Budowlani Łódź meeting at 17:30 local time (16:30 GMT) and KS DevelopRes Rzeszów and BKS BOSTIK ZGO Bielsko-Biała going against each other three hours later.
The Łódź Derby will bring a lot of excitement to the city selected to host the 2025 Volleyball Nations League Women’s Finals, making the crosstown rivals, who were separated by just three points at the end of the regular season, go against each other.
From all four semifinalists, Commercecon, who finished second in the regular season with 55 points (18 wins, four losses), had the roughest path to the Final Four, as they needed three matches to eliminate ITA TOOLS STAL Mielec after surprisingly dropping the first encounter of their quarterfinal series at home.
“Upsets happen in sports, but we faced it and prepared as a team to get the job done,” said opposite Weronika Gierszewska. “Derbies are very unique and anything can happen, but I’m optimistic. The first step is always the hardest, so hopefully we’ll be better prepared from a mental standpoint to keep moving forward.”
Gierszewska, who registered 42 points across the three quarterfinal matches, and outside hitter Zuzanna Górecka, who contributed 28, were key players in the team’s comeback.
Their rivals Budowlani had a very similar campaign in the regular season, also getting 18 wins and four losses, but ended in third place, with 52 points. In the quarterfinals, they weren’t challenged by Metalkas Pałac Bydgoszcz, winning both matches in straight sets.
Much of the team’s production in the series came from outside hitter Paulina Damaske, who scored 29 points across the two matches, and Italian opposite Terry Enweonwu, who delivered 28.
Friday’s duel will be the 28th between the teams in the Polish League and will mark the third time the Łódź rivals meet in the playoffs. Commercecon have the edge, having won 16 of the previous 27 encounters, and they also won two of their three playoff duels, prevailing in the Finals in 2018-2019 and in the bronze medal match in 2021-2022 before falling in last season’s quarterfinals. This year’s regular-season duels both ended with the team playing on the road winning 3-0.
Regular season winners DevelopRes get to the semifinals with the best campaign among the four remaining teams. They collected 56 points in the regular season, securing 20 wins and two losses, and knocked defending champions LOTTO Chemik Police out in the quarterfinals with a pair of victories, dropping just one set.
Team captain Monika Fedusio led the team against Chemik, producing 17 points in each match, while Polish national team star middle blocker Agnieszka Korneluk was a big factor at the net, registering 29 points, including nine blocks.
Their opponents Bielsko-Biała finished fourth in the regular season, earning 47 points with a campaign of 17 wins and five losses. In the quarterfinals, they handled MOYA Radomka Radom more comfortably than many would expect and got to the semifinals in great form.
Julita Piasecka and Kertu Laak carried the team to the semifinals, leading their offense against Radomka. The 22-year-old outside hitter was Bielsko-Biała’s leading scorer in the duel with 42 points registered across both matches, while the Estonian opposite chipped in another 35.
DevelopRes have been historically very successful against Bielsko-Biała in the Polish League, as the team from Rzeszów has 20 victories in previous encounters to their opponents’ six. They never lost a playoff match to their rivals, winning both last season’s semifinal and the 2021-2022 quarterfinal series in two encounters. Three of the last four encounters between the teams went to five sets, including the one in the first round of the regular season - in the second round, DevelopRes won again, this time 3-1.
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