In the third final match of the Polish PlusLiga, the volleyball players of Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie managed to reduce their deficit in the series, defeating Bogdanka LUK Lublin 3:1 (25:20, 25:20, 19:25, 29:27) in front of their home crowd in Sosnowiec Arena. With this victory, the best-of-three series score becomes 2:1 in favor of Bogdanka LUK Lublin.
The match was filled with emotions, as Warta Zawiercie showed character after two clear losses (3:0) in the first two matches. The team from Zawiercie fought not only against their opponent but also against injury problems, including the permanent absence of Karol Butryn and the injury of Yury Gladyr, which necessitated the medical transfer of Georg Grozer. In this match, the German national player performed strongly, especially at the start, and was even more impressive than Lublin's star Wilfredo Leon at times.
Expectations for an easy victory and an early title win for Lublin ("The champagne is already chilled in Lublin," as Polish colleagues wrote), supported by a large fan group and the presence of the Polish volleyball management, were not met in this match. Warta showed improvement in their play, especially in blocking against Kevin Sasak and serving, and the home team's libero performed excellently. Although Warta made many errors in the second set (14), they managed to win it. Bogdanka LUK Lublin showed a strong third set, but in the dramatic fourth set, Warta prevailed 29:27, extending the battle for gold.
For the winners from Warta Zawiercie, the top scorers were Georg Grozer with 19 points, Russell with 19 points, and Kwolek with 18 points.
For the Bogdanka LUK Lublin team, Sawicki finished with the most points – 18, followed by Leon with 14 points.
The captain of the Bulgarian national team, Alex Grozdanov, finished the match with a modest 5 points (3 of which were from blocks) and 40% attacking efficiency.
The fourth match of the final series is scheduled for Saturday, May 10, in Lublin.
Warta: Kwolek (18), Russell (19), Zniszczol (6), Grozer (19), Tavares (5), Bieniek (8), Perry (libero) and Markiewicz and Laba
LUK: Komenda (1), Sawicki (18), Leon (14), Grozdanov (5), McCarthy (7), Sasak (1), Tales (libero) and Malinowski (9), Nowakowski and Slotarski
MVP: Kwolek
Meanwhile, before the final series, the bronze medalists in the PlusLiga were also determined – PGE Warsaw Project, who won the third-place series against JSW Jastrzębski Węgiel with a 3:0 victory.
