Teams from the Polish PlusLiga are in the final stages of their preparations for the new season. Last weekend, Bogdanka LUK Lublin, the reigning Polish champion, competed in front of its home crowd in the fourth edition of the BOGDANKA Volley Cup "Tomasz Wójtowicz" tournament, which they won after two victories – over JSW Jastrzębski Węgiel and in the final over PGE Projekt Warszawa.
A little earlier, Asseco Resovia Rzeszów participated in the VII Janusz Szykowski Memorial in Częstochowa, where they confidently won both their matches – against the local Steel Hempapol Politechnika and against ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, without losing a single set.
The two teams concluded their preparations with a friendly match played on Thursday. It was the final test before the start of the championship and allowed coaches Stéphane Antiga (Bogdanka LUK Lublin) and Massimo Botti (Asseco Resovia Rzeszów) to make final checks on their lineups. Botti was the coach who led Bogdanka to win the Challenge Cup against Lube Civitanova and the Polish championship title.
The Polish champions from Bogdanka LUK Lublin proved stronger, although they didn't start the match in the best way. Resovia took a 2-0 lead in sets (27:25, 25:21), but the champions managed to turn the score around, taking the next two sets with the same score – 25:21, and triumphed 15:12 in the tie-break.
Bogdanka LUK Lublin – Asseco Resovia Rzeszów 3:2 (25:27, 21:25, 25:21, 25:21, 15:12)
| Team | Lineup |
|---|---|
| Bogdanka LUK Lublin | Guillema (4), Enno (17), Wachnik (6), Grozdanov (14), Sasak (13), Komenda (4), Hoss (libero) and Malinowski (7), Young (9), McCarthy (4) |
| Asseco Resovia Rzeszów | Poręba (6), Demianenko (8), Szalpuk (17), Cebulj (9), Butryn (13), Janusz (3), Shoji (libero) and Nowak (1), Louati (11), Graham (2), Zatorski, Sapiński, Lison, Potera (libero) |
The match showcased an evenly contested game and a high attacking tempo from both sides. The champions' new outside hitter, Hirir Enno, was the top scorer with 17 points. For Asseco Resovia, Polish national player Artur Szalpuk finished with the same number of points.
The captain of the Bulgarian national team, Alex Grozdanov, played a strong match and scored 14 points, which is a very good achievement for a middle blocker.
Start of the Season
The first round of the PlusLiga begins on October 20th. A day later, Asseco Resovia Rzeszów will face Ślepsk Malow Suwałki, featuring Asparuh Asparuhov, while Bogdanka LUK Lublin will close the round with a match against Steel Hempapol Politechnika Częstochowa.
photo: Nikolay Varadinov
