BOGDANKA LUK Lublin left for Tourcoing, France, where today they will face local Lille Metropole in the second leg of the Challenge Cup 1/8 final.Alex Grozdanov and Wilfredo Leon only need two won sets to celebrate their qualification for the quarter-finals.
Two weeks ago, in the "Globus" hall, Massimo Botti's proteges defeated Tourcoing Lille Metropole as expected. Lublin achieved a lead, triumphing with a 3:1 victory. In the first set, the team from Eastern Poland did not start well, but in the subsequent sets, they pressured their opponent so hard against the wall that they could not surpass the 20-point mark.
After the European match, LUK played two matches in the domestic league, and Tourcoing played one. Lublin defeated Cuprum Stilon Gorzów 3:0, but in the derby of the 16th round, they lost to Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie after a tie-break. For its part, the fourth force from the last French championship triumphed over AS Cannes with a 3:0 score. The team from Poland occupies 4th place in PlusLiga with 32 points after 16 rounds. On the other hand, Dorian Rougereau's proteges, after 12 matches, lead the Marmara SpikeLeague table, having 3 points more than the second-placed Chaumont VB 52 of Silvano Prandi.
In the first match, held in Lublin, LUK's leader was, as expected, Wilfredo Leon. The star of the Polish national team recorded 15 points and attacked with 50% efficiency. He was his team's top scorer, but not in the match. He was supported by Kevin Sasaku, who added 12 points.Alex Grozdanov played a good match, finishing with 8 points (67% in attack).On the other side of the net, the Argentine national diagonal Pablo Kukartsev shone with 23 points. However, he was left alone, as none of his teammates surpassed the 9-point mark. LUK outplayed their opponent on serve and made nine fewer errors. The favorites in the match are Lublin, who only need two sets to triumph.