By Adanoos

This round was pretty boring, so the post is a bit shorter too. Some more transfer rumours: Michał Winiarski to Trefl Gdańsk as their first coach. Interesting team might be built in Będzin with Jakub Bednaruk as a coach, Damian Schulz (I doubt it though), Dawid Gunia and Stijn D’Hulst. A lot of teams want to sign Tomasz Fornal (not a surprise), Czarni, Warta, Skra and Jastrzębski are definitely interested (maybe even more). Grobelny (very likely) and Żaliński (less likely, but not impossible) supposedly will join AZS Olsztyn. Their new coach has some kind of conection with the club, first names that comes to mind are Cretu and Sordyl. Looks like Thibault Rossard is more likely to join Onico than stay in Resovia or go to Jastrzębski.

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The first game took place in Katowice. MKS was guaranteed to finish last, while GKS is still part of play-off race, so everyone expected a quick and easy win for Katowice, but that was not the case. Everything was going as expected in the first set, but then MKS managed to win the 2nd set. It looked like GKS was back on the right track after 3rd one, but once again they lost next set and one point in league table, which might be very important. Tie-break was a complete demolition. A deserved MVP for Rafał Sobański (17 points, 3 blocks, 1 ace, 50% kills), who filled the hole left by Butryn (12 points, 1 block, 35% kills, 10% efficiency) and Krulicki (6 points, 2 blocks, 1 ace, 33% kills). Tomas Rousseaux did fine (19 points, 5 blocks, 1 ace, 48% kills and efficiency) and Krzysiek gave a really meaningful sub (8 points, 3 blocks, 1 ace, 50% kills, 6 breakpoints). In MKS, the middles were disgustingly bad, Grzechnik scored only 1 points in 5 sets (it was an ace, 0% kills, 0 blocks), while Ratajczak added 6 (2 blocks, 2 aces, 33% kills), okay Faryna (23 points, 44% kills, 22% efficiency) and improved performances by Buchowski (17 points, 3 aces, 40% kills) and Langlois (16 points, 2 blocks, 1 ace, 37% kills) in won sets was enough to add 7th point in league table.

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The next match between Cerrad Czarni Radom and PGE Skra Bełchatów definitely was more interesting. But the match was still not too exciting, even though it went all the way. Czarni were fired up and they were controlling the game for 2 sets. But in 3rd set their service got less dangerous (10 aces in the whole game, 6 in first 2 sets), their number of errors grew, while Skra was more than ready to take advantage of those problems. Skra led by Milad Ebadipour won next two sets and equalized the score first, then easily won tie-break as well and the whole match 3:2. It was their 3rd comeback victory in a row. Those 2 points might be crucial for them in the play-off race and they kept 6th position and a small advantage over GKS before their matchup this week.

The MVP award just had to go to Ebadipour (21 points, 2 blocks, 1 ace, 62% kills), who was the most consistent player of his team and looked good in every set. He had a lot of help from both middles, Karol Kłos (11 points, 1 block, 3 aces, 54% kills) and Jakub Kochanowski (13 points, 1 block, 3 aces, 64% kills and efficiency) played good games. Renee Teppan (11 points, 2 blocks, 1 ace, 42% kills) was less impressive than in his few previous matches, but Grzegorz Łomacz didn’t give him a lot of chances to shine either (Renee attacked only 18 times). Alen Pajenk (9 points, 3 aces, 75% kills and efficiency) was the best player of his team. His block is still terrible compared to other middles, but his spiking was very good and his service was fantastic (28 services, 8 more than second Kłos). Huber (9 points, 3 blocks, 60% kills) and Filip (24 points, 3 blocks, 2 aces, 54% kills) were alos very solid. Both Fornal (12 points, 2 blocks, 56% kills) and Żaliński (19 points, 2 blocks, 5 aces, 44% kills) had good first and second set, but looked worse after and both got replaced at some point.

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The third game, Onico vs Trefl was very quick and one-sided. Warszawa demolished Gdańsk in 3 sets with impressive 75:54 score. MVP went to Kurek (18 points, 3 aces, 68% kills), but Kwolek (14 points, 4 aces, 83% kills and 75% efficiency) and Vigrass (12 points, 2 blocks, 2 aces, 73% kills) could easily get it as well. Piotr Łukasik had a poor game (3 points, 27% kills), but it didn’t really matter. Maciej Muzaj was completely stopped (8 points, 1 ace, 33% kills), just like Ruben Schott (5 points, 2 blocks, 30% kills), so even pretty promising comeback (after injury) from Mijailovic (8 points, 1 block, 1 ace, 46% kills) didn’t help.

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The next game, in Rzeszó,w was equally one-sided. Jastrzębski traveled to Podpromie without Lukas Kampa (out with a discopathy) and it really hurt their team. It is not known when he will be back and whether the club thinks about medical transfer. Resovia started without Thibault Rossard, but it was Cretu’s decision because the French player was at his disposal. This match was not good. The MVP went to Jarosz (14 points, 1 block, 3 aces, 38% kills), who was not great, personally, I would give it to Shoji (6 points, 1 block, 2 aces) who looked a bit better than usual. Buszek was okay (8 points, 1 ace, 33% kills), Mika finally gave some hope (11 points, 1 block, 1 ace, 53% kills) to his fans. A Pretty good performance by Możdżonek (9 points, 4 blocks, 83% kills) is worth noticing. In Jastrzębski Fromm (3 points, 25% kills, -5 ratio) and Konarski (10 points, 2 blocks, 27% kills, 17% efficiency) were back to depressing level, but it is not the first time it happens. Lyneel’s poor form (6 points, 33% kills, 17% efficiency) is a lot more worrying, because French player was the best player of his team by far. Ferens (4 points, 67% kills, but tragic reception and 0 ratio) didn’t look better than Fromm and even another good sub by Bucki (5 points, 63% kills) didn’t help.

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Aluron Virtu Warta Zawiercie was visited by Zaksa Kędzierzyn-Koźle. Warta won their last 8 home games, while Zaksa just got eliminated from Champions League and lost their last league match to Onico, so there was hope for a good show. The first set was pretty good, their service was good, they were defending better than Zaksa in this set (31 spikes by Warta, only 18 by Zaksa) and the first game went to the home team. But this time they managed to keep this high pace for only one set (they were up 2:0 in Bełchatów, but lost 3:2 in the previous round), while Zaksa improved (added service, block and better defence) and next 3 sets went to guests. Deserved MVP for Kaczmarek, who made the difference and was ridiculously effective (24 points, 2 blocks, 2 aces, 77% kills, 69% efficiency, +21 ratio) and led his team to victory. Szymura did his job (12 points, 2 blocks, 2 blocks), but Śliwka had worse reception than usual (5 errors, only 25% positive), but did fine in offense (8 points, 57% kills). Łukasz Wiśniewski was back to okay level (8 points, 2 blocks, 1 ace, 56% kills) but Bieniek played his worst game of the season (6 points, 46% kills, 15% efficiency). Not only he finished without a block or ace (2nd time this season), he made 4 spiking errors (7 in previous 18 games) and dropped below 50% kills (2nd time this season). Sam Deroo is ill at the moment, but should soon be ready to play. Looking at Warta, it was pretty good performance by Malinowski (20 points, 1 ace, 58% kills, 33% efficiency), Ferreira was not bad (14 points, 2 blocks, 2 aces, 48% kills), but Waliński (14 points, 3 aces, 35% kills) played a bit below his standard level. Marcin Kania, who was great against Skra, this time didn’t deliver (6 points, 2 blocks, 2 aces, 29% kills). Warta needs to focus now, because Skra and GKS are very close. Luckily for Zawiercie, their schedule now is a lot easier, so keeping their position in top 6 is very likely.

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The last game took place in Lubin. Cuprum faced Indykpol AZS Olsztyn. This game was terrible, painful to watch and I would prefer to forget it happened, so I will keep it short. Home team had a great start (especially Grobelny) and won the first set, but then Kapelus replaced Lux and guests started to play a bit better, while Cuprum was a lot worse and won next 3 sets. MVP went to Paweł Woicki for some reason, even player was surprised, but he didn’t play a good match. Kapelus (9 points, 47% kills, good reception) and Hadrava (24 points, 3 blocks, 1 ace, 48% kills, 40% efficiency) were better choices. Another Andringa’s injury is bad news for AZS. Luke Smith (11 points, 1 block, 50% kills and efficiency) and Igor Grobelny (18 points, 45% kills) didn’t look too bad, but their teammates did.

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GKS Katowice 3:2 MKS Będzin

25:20, 18:25, 25:15, 19:25, 15:6

GKS: Komenda (2), Rousseaux (19), Kohut (8), Butryn (12), Sobański (17), Krulicki (6), Mariański (libero) and Woch, Krzysiek (8), Fijałek, Sobala (1), Ogórek (libero)

MKS: Tichacek (2), Langlois (16), Grzechnik (1), Faryna (23), Buchowski (17), Ratajczak (6), Potera (libero) and Peszko (2), Kowalski, Fornal (1), Gregorowicz (libero)

MVP: Rafał Sobański

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Cerrad Czarni Radom 2:3 PGE Skra Bełchatów

25:20, 25:21, 20:25, 21:25, 10:15

Czarni: Giger (1), Żaliński (19), Pajenk (9), Filip (24), Fornal (12), Huber (9), Ruciak (libero), Wasilewski (libero) and Rybicki, Kwasowski (4)

Skra: Łomacz (4), Ebadipour (21), Kochanowski (13), Teppan (11), Katic (8), Kłos (11), Piechocki (libero) and Droszyński, Orczyk (2), Wlazły

MVP: Milad Ebadipour

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Onico Warszawa 3:0 Trefl Gdańsk

25:19, 25:17, 25:18

Onico: Brizard (4), Kwolek (14), Vigrass (12), Kurek (18), Łukasik (3), Wrona (5), Wojtaszek (libero) and Penchev (2), Kowalczyk, Buczek, Vernon-Evans

Trefl: Janusz, Schott (5), Nowakowski (3), Muzaj (8), Jakubiszak (2), Grzyb (3), Majcherski (libero) and Kozłowski, Mijailovic (8), Mordyl (2)

MVP: Bartosz Kurek

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Asseco Resovia Rzeszów 3:0 Jastrzębski Węgiel

25:21, 25:21, 25:17

Resovia: Shoji (6), Mika (11), Smith (8), Jarosz (14), Buszek (8), Możdżonek (9), Perry (libero)

JW: Wolański (4), Lyneel (6), Kosok (3), Konarski (10), Fromm (3), Hain (2), Popiwczak (libero) and Bucki (5), Rusek, Gunia, Ferens (4)

MVP: Jakub Jarosz

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Aluron Virtu Warta Zawiercie 1:3 Zaksa Kędzierzyn-Koźle

25:22, 19:25, 21:25, 16:25

Warta: Masny (1), Waliński (14), Gawryszewski (8), Malinowski (20), Ferreira (14), Kania (6), Koga (libero) and Bociek, Żuk, Rejno (4), Semeniuk (1)

Zaksa: Toniutti, Śliwka (8), Wiśniewski (8), Kaczmarek (24), Szymura (12), Bieniek (6), Zatorski (libero) and Shaw, Koppers, Kalembka (2)

MVP: Łukasz Kaczmarek

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Cuprum Lubin 1:3 Indykpol AZS Olsztyn

25:19, 22:25, 20:25, 21:25

Cuprum: Gorzkiewicz (3), Grobelny (18), Marcyniak (4), Ziobrowski (12), Smith (11), Smoliński (7), Gruszczyński (libero) and Patucha (3), Wachnik (6), Zawalski (1), Toobal (3), Boruch (3), Biegun

AZS: Woicki (5), Andringa (7), Poręba (6), Hadrava (24), Lux (8), Zniszczoł (8), Żurek (libero) and Kańczok (1), Gil, Wika, Kapelus (9)

MVP: Paweł Woicki

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League table:

1. Zaksa Kędzierzyn-Koźle 20G, 18W-2L, 53p
2. Onico Warszawa 21G, 16W-5L, 48p
3. Jastrzębski Węgiel 21G, 15W-6L, 44p
4. Cerrad Czarni Radom 21G, 13W-8L, 39p
5. Aluron Virtu Warta Zawiercie 21G, 12W-9L, 34p
6. PGE Skra Bełchatów 21G, 12W-9L, 33p
7. GKS Katowice 21G, 11W-10L, 32p
8. Indykpol AZS Olsztyn 22G, 9W-13L, 30p
9. Asseco Resovia Rzeszów 21G, 9W-12L, 29p
10. Trefl Gdańsk 19G, 8W-11L, 23p
11. Chemik Bydgoszcz 21G, 6W-15L, 19p
12. Cuprum Lubin 21G, 6W-15L, 17p
13. MKS Będzin 22G, 1W-21L, 7p

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Top scorer:

1. Jan Hadrava – 424
2. Maciej Muzaj – 402
3. Karol Butryn – 337

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Most aces:

1. Bartosz Kwolek – 46
2. Jan Hadrava – 43
3. Wojciech Żaliński – 40

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Most blocks:

1. Grzegorz Kosok – 53
2. Maxim Morozau – 53
3. Andrzej Wrona – 51

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Best reception (positive %):

1. Paweł Zatorski – 58%
2. Michał Potera – 56%
3. Nikolay Penchev – 54%

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Next matches:

05.03, 20:30 – Trefl Gdańsk vs Zaksa Kędzierzyn-Koźle

07.03, 17:30 – Jastrzębski Węgiel vs Cuprum Lubin

07.03, 20:30 – PGE Skra Bełchatów vs GKS Katowice

08.03, 17:30 – Trefl Gdańsk vs Aluron Virtu Warta Zawiercie

08.03, 20:30 – Indykpol AZS Olsztyn vs Onico Warszawa

10.03, 20:30 – Zaksa Kędzierzyn-Koźle vs Cerrad Czarni Radom

11.03, 17:30 – Chemik Bydgoszcz vs Asseco Resovia Rzeszów

11.03, 20:30 – Trefl Gdańsk vs PGE Skra Bełchatów

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Due to women Polish Cup final four this weekend, games are not played at usual days and times. Also, Trefl plays their 2 postponed matches (tuesday against Zaksa, next monday against Skra) in addition to scheduled game with Warta Zawiercie.