The Polish champion Bogdanka LUK Lublin achieved a dramatic 3:2 (22:25, 23:25, 27:25, 25:16, 15:13) victory against Belgian Knack Roeselare in a group stage match, played on January 27, 2026, in the hallHala Globus Tomasz Wójtowiczin Lublin. The match lasted 108 minutes and offered everything – comebacks, missed opportunities, and decisive individual performances.
The guests from Roeselare took a 2:0 lead in sets, and in both cases, the hosts controlled the game until the middle of the sets, after which the Belgians imposed their initiative. However, the Poles showed character in the third set – from a 19:21 deficit, Lublin managed to equalize, force the set into extra points, and with better concentration, get back into the match.
The fourth set was entirely dictated by the hosts. They took the lead from the very beginning, built a solid advantage in the middle of the set at 16:10, and without hesitation, equalized the overall score.
The decisive fifth set started better for the Belgian team, who were the first to reach the 8th point. After the change of courts, however, Alex Grozdanov played a crucial role, playing steadily and scoring three consecutive points. Wilfredo Leon also came alive in the decisive rallies, and the guests made a fatal error on the last point when they failed to connect with the ball – thus the match ended after nearly two hours of play.
Alex Grozdanov finished with 12 points(+8, 3 blocks, and 64% attack efficiency)Wilfredo Leon was the top scorer for the winners with 26 points, Eno added 18, and Young contributed 11 points.
For Knack Roeselare, Basil Dermaux was again the top scorer, as in the first match in Belgium, with 27 points, but this time too, his efforts only brought one point for the standings. Wilfredo Leon became MVP.
| Category | Bogdanka LUK Lublin | Knack Roeselare |
|---|---|---|
| Attack Points (Winning Spikes) | 62 | 59 |
| Block Points (Kill Blocks) | 10 | 6 |
| Aces | 5 | 7 |
| Points from Opponent Errors | 35 | 30 |
| Total Points Scored | 112 | 102 |
The two teams were almost equally matched in attack (61:59), but the huge difference in blocking (11:5) was the key to Lublin's turnaround. Knack Roeselare partially compensated with serving (7:5 aces), but made more errors in the crucial moments, which gave additional points to the hosts. The overall point balance of 112:101 clearly shows that after the second set, control gradually passed entirely into the hands of the Polish champion.
With this success, Bogdanka LUK Lublin remains the sole leader in the group. An interesting fact is that this was the fifth match in the group to end in a tie-break, which clearly shows how evenly matched and contested the competition is in this group.
