Ślepsk Malow Suwałki, with Bulgarian international Asparuh Asparuhov in its squad, lost 2:3 (25:20, 20:25, 21:25, 25:18, 7:15) to Projekt Warszawa in the Polish PlusLiga.
The Bulgarian outside hitter finished with 7 points, all from attack, with a 27% success rate (7 successful out of 26 attempts). Asparuhov did not score a point from serve or block, and in reception, he registered 28% positive and only 8% perfect reception from 36 serves directed at him.
The big hero for the visitors was opposite Bartosz Filipiak, who finished with an impressive 32 points – 25 from attack, 6 aces, and one block. The Pole achieved a 57% success rate in attack and was the most effective player in the match.
Ślepsk won the first set, and after two consecutive successes by the hosts, managed to equalize for 2:2. In the tie-break, however, Projekt Warszawa imposed a categorical superiority and closed the match with 15:7.
For the winners, Yuri Romano scored 20 points, including 3 aces, and Bartłomiej Lemański added 13 points, 6 of which were from blocks. Karol Kłos also distinguished himself with 6 successful blocks.
The hosts' libero, Damian Wojtaszek, was chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Despite the equality in successful attacks (56:56) and Ślepsk's advantage in aces (9:3), the hosts' blocking proved decisive, as they won this component 16:8.
The match lasted 151 minutes in front of 2170 spectators.
For Asparuhov, this was a significantly weaker match compared to the previous round, when he scored 19 points with a 60% attack success rate and was chosen as MVP in the victory over Norwid Częstochowa.