The fifth round of the Polish men's volleyball first division, Plusliga, has ended. Rubin, the team of Japan national team setter Seita Sekita, played away against Zawiercie, the team of former Japan national team libero Taichiro Koga. Despite putting up a good fight against a superior opponent, they were unfortunately defeated 2-3 in a full set, suffering their fourth disappointing defeat. Sekita did not play again.
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Rubin vs. Xavierche 2-3 (20-25, 26-24, 25-17, 22-25, 11-15)
In the first set, Rubin was up against the higher-ranked Xabierce, who had only lost once, and the match was evenly matched until the middle of the match, with both sides trading side-outs. However, in the middle of the match, Zniszczuk lost consecutive breaks, including an ace, from Zniszczuk's serve, and Xabierce took the lead and took the first set. The second set was also close at the beginning, just like the first, but Xabierce's consecutive spike errors allowed Rubin to take the lead. However, Xabierce's two substitutions proved effective, and he caught up again, making it a deuce. Nevertheless, Rubin, who had been scoring points mainly from his opposite, Kapitsa, who had been in good form since the previous round, took back the set.
Continuing this momentum, the third set saw Rubin leading from start to finish, scoring mainly with Kapitsa and Walinski. Xabierce brought in Tokyo Olympic bronze medalist Conte (Argentina), but Rubin's momentum was unstoppable, and they won consecutive sets without any trouble. However, from the fourth set onwards, Conte exploded. His spikes were unstoppable. And Conte's performance spread to the other players, bringing Xabierce back to life. Xabierce maintained the lead from start to finish in the fourth and fifth sets, and won the match against Rubin in a comeback. Conte was the MVP of the day. It was an impressive performance with 17 attack points, an 82% success rate, and a 76% effectiveness rate.
Sekita did not have a chance to play in this match. There are rumors that he is injured, but I don't think it's a big deal, so I hope to see him back in good health in the next match. But if I had to watch a match like this from the bench, I'd probably be itching to play (lol). Our next match will be against Katowice on Saturday, November 6th at 5:30pm. This is an opponent we want to beat.
Other notable matches
Belhatov vs. Kendziedzin Kozile 2-3 (26-24, 29-27, 23-25, 25-19, 12-15)
In this traditional match between two popular teams, the match was closely fought, but European champion Kendziedzin Kozile (known as Zaksa) came out on top. Service aces were very prominent on both sides throughout the match, with Zaksa scoring 9 and Bełhatov (known as Skura) scoring 12, making for a game that symbolized the serve-fighting that is the epitome of modern volleyball. The most aces was from Skura's Bieniek, who scored 6. This resulted in many high-set matches, testing the decisiveness of the three players on the sides. Zaksa's opposite Kaczmarek, who was the MVP of the day, boasted an attack success rate of 53%, and the two outside players also scored consistently. Meanwhile, Skura's outside player Ebadipoule was in poor form with an effectiveness rate of 0%, which put a lot of strain on the other two players. Both teams had noticeable spike mistakes in the early stages of the game, but Zakusa was able to correct that from the third set onwards, while Skura made mistakes and was blocked until the end. With this, Zakusa is the only team in the league that is undefeated in five games.
Round 5 Results
Warsaw vs Lublin 3-1
Bełchatov vs Kędzinkośle 2-3
Rzeszow vs Jastrzebski 0-3
Gdansk vs Nysa 3-0
Suwalki vs Radom 1-3
Xabierche vs Rubin 3-2
Katowice vs Olsztyn 0-3
Standings
13 5-0 15/4 Kendziedzinkozire
13 4-1 14/5 Jastrzebski
12 4-1 14/7 Warsaw
11 4-1 12/8 Xavierce
10 3-2 11/6 Olsztyn
9 3-2 9/7 Rzeszow
8 3-2 12/11 Belhatov
7 2-3 10/9 Gdansk
6 2-3 6/11 Radom
5 2-3 7/11 Katowice
4 1-4 7/12 Rubin (Sekita Masahiro)
3 1-4 5/12 Suwalki
3 1-4 5/12 Lublin
1 0-5 3/15 Nisa
Round 6 schedule
*Local time
Friday, November 5
20:30～ Lublin vs Olsztyn
Saturday, November 6th
14:45～ Kendziedzinkozyre vs Rzeszow
17:30～Rubin vs Katowice
20:30～ Radom vs. Xabierce
Sunday, November 7
14:45～ Warsaw vs. Belhatov
17:30～ Jastrzebski vs Gdansk
20:30～ Nisa vs Suwalki
https://www.plusliga.pl/
Photo: PLPS
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