Three weeks after the Italian league, the playoff season has begun in Poland's men's Przliga, another league considered the world's top volleyball league.
Like the Italian League, the top eight teams in the regular season will compete in the tournament. All matches will be played on a home and away basis, with the first team to win two matches in the quarterfinals and semifinals, and the first team to win three matches in the final and third-place match.
This season's playoff matchups are as follows:
Jastrzcienbski (1st place) - Czestochowa (8th place)
Lublin (4th place) – Kędzierzyn Kozile (5th place)
Warsaw (2nd place) – Belchatów (7th place)
Zawiercie (3rd place) - Rzeszów (6th place)
The first match to take place on the second day, Saturday, March 29th, was between Zawierce and Rzeszow.
Xavierche, ranked 3rd, is the club where Taichiro Koga (currently at Tokyo GB) used to belong. The most notable feature this season is their powerful serves. The team's 1.95 aces per set is the highest in the league, and all six starters, including OP Butlin, who is ranked 2nd in the individual serve ranking, can consistently score aces. In addition, the side players, including OH Kuforek and US representative OH Russell, have a lot of scoring options and are stable.
6th-placed Rzeszow is a team that has been improving since the second half of the regular season. Their strength is in blocks, with an average of 2.5 block points per set, the highest in the league. Individually, both MB Vokh and MB Kłos are in the top 10 in the block rankings. In terms of points, OP Boyer of the French national team leads the team.
In the first set, Rzeszów led 3-6 with OH Czebly's service ace. But in the middle of the set, Zabierce turned the game around with an ace from MB Bieniek's serve and a spike from OH Kuforek to take the lead 16-14. Then, in the final set, Zabierce extended the lead to 23-19 with OH Kuforek's serve, and finally Zabierce took the lead 25-21 with a quick from MB Gradil.
In the second set, Rzeszow made a series of mistakes in the early stages, giving Zabierce a 4-1 lead. MB Bieniek's consecutive aces and OH Kuforek's spikes further increased the lead to 10-5. Rzeszow then held on with attacks from OH Cebuli, but in the final stages, Zabierce scored consecutive points from S Tavares' serve with an ace and OP Butrin's spike to pull away to 23-15. OH Russell scored the final point to make it 25-18, giving Zabierce the lead in this set as well.
In the third set, Zabierce broke the ball with strong serves and took a 7-4 lead. However, Zabierce's mistakes and blocks from MB Kłos allowed Rzeszow to take the lead at 9-11. Zabierce then tied the score several times with serves, but blocks from S. Lopreto and spikes from OH Čebli prevented Rzeszow from taking the lead, and then consecutive breaks from MB Vóch's serve made it 18-21. Another block from S. Lopreto at the end of the set gave Rzeszow the set back at 21-25.
In the fourth set, Rzeszow made a series of mistakes from OH Kuforek's serve, giving Zabierce a 10-5 lead. From there, Rzeszow quickly narrowed the gap to 11-10 with attacks from OH Cebuli, and the game continued with side-outs, leading to 19-17. However, Zabierce got consecutive breaks from OH Russell's powerful serve, leading to 21-17. In the end, OP Butrin blocked OP Boyer, and Zabierce took the set 25-21, winning 3-1.
Zawierce - Rzeszów
3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 21-25, 25-21)
Stats
The match was a close one - Zabiercze serve vs Rzeszow block - but this time Zabiercze's serve prevailed.
Although the number of aces was only 6, which was a little low compared to the team average, they repeatedly disrupted Rzeszow's serve reception, leading to breaks. MB Bieniek had the most aces with 3, and OH Kuforek, who also won the MVP award, scored many points on break chances. In addition, Zabierce's three side players scored well, with OH Kuforek scoring the most points with 17, followed by OH Russell with 16 points and OP Butrin with 15 points.
Rzeszów fought back with 9 block points, but struggled to break through Zabierce's serve and defense. OH Çebuly had a great performance with 18 points, an attacking efficiency rate of 501 TP3T, 2 aces and 1 block, but the success rate of other attackers was low. If OH Bednos had played, the situation might have been different, but Rzeszów had the CEV Cup final coming up in 4 days, so they probably couldn't push him too hard after his injury.
Even with OH Bednos back, Zabierce is still the favorite, but as Anastasi (former manager of Piacenza etc.) said in an interview, it is Rzeszów who has the greatest potential to surprise in the playoffs.
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