In the last match of 2023, Jastrzębski Węgiel lost 1:3 away to Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and lost the first place in the table to Projekt Warszawa. However, he could regain the lead on Tuesday, following the Warsaw team's surprise loss to Indykpol AZS Olsztyn. The condition was to win against Skra.
1. They ended their bad streak. They wanted to bless the hall. “stone from the heart”
Belachatov's side, unlike their Round 14 opponents, ended the year on a winning note (3-1 win over Indicpol), but they were not favorites to face the upset Polish champions. Especially since they started the competition without David Konarski, who was ill, and was replaced by Pierre Derouyon as the attacker.
In the first set, Jastrzębie's team took a quick lead by a few points (6:11), thanks in large part to a great block. In the second part of the game, they controlled the situation on the field, did not push the pace and kept the opponent at a safe distance. It's true that after Bartlomiej Lemanski's point service, their advantage was reduced to two points (21:23), but then the hosts made two mistakes on the service court and the score ended at 25:22. Coach Marcelo Mendez's team.
The guest center Norbert Huber opened the second half with a service ace (0:2). Then Tomasz Fornal stopped Przemyslaw Kupka with one block, who replaced the ineffective Derouyon in the first set (5:8), and shortly after, Huber blocked Adrian Aziobanitei in the next two actions, and the advantage of the Polish champions was already five points (11:6).
In the later part of the match, the quality of the visitors' play dropped a bit and Skra reached three points (14:17), but at the end of the set, the Yastrz team again showed great actions, including: two spectacular plays from Benjamin Toniut to Rafal Shimur, and they won a big victory, 25:18.
At the start of the third game, Huber again tormented his opponents with his difficult serves and put his team up 3-1. Then Yuri Gladir stopped Mateusz Poreba in the net, Shimura completed the counterattack and Jastrzebski Vegiel was already winning 6:2. The hosts were able to make up for the loss very quickly – after Kupka's shot on the goal post and Lemanski's ball, the score was 7:7.
The visitors quickly regained the lead, including two blocks by Huber (9:13), but Skra once again caught up with their opponents and pulled within one point. Later, coach Andrea Gardini's team had three chances to equalize, but they failed to capitalize. He succeeded on the fourth attempt, when the visitors made a mistake in the opponent's space (23:23). One minute later, Gladir could not reach the ball sent by Toniut, and Belchatov's team had a set ball (24:23), which was used immediately. Bulgarian Skra center Ilya Petkov avoided Gladir, the hosts won 25:23 and took the fourth set.
The lost game irritated the Polish champions, who at the beginning of the next set played a much more effective attack than their opponent and quickly gained a big advantage (7:12). Petkov reduced the five-point gap (10:12) with two consecutive serves, but only for a minute. Jastrzębski Wegiel quickly regained the lead (10:15) and from that moment on confidently went to the final victory. In the end he won 25:18 and won the whole match 3:1.
Huber, who scored 21 points, including nine blocks, was named player of the game.
The three-point win returned the Jastrzębie team to the top of the PlusLiga. The Polish champions are one point ahead of Projekt Warszawa, who have the same win-loss record (12-2). Skra is in tenth place with six wins and eight losses.
Plusliga, 14th round
PGE GiEK Skra Bełchatów – Jastrzębski Wegiel 1:3 (22:25, 18:25, 25:23, 18:25)
spark: Grzegorz Lomaczy, Pierre Derouyon (4), Adrian Aciobanitei (4), Bartlomiej Lipinski (9), Mateusz Poreba (6), Bartlomiej Lemanski (6), Benjamin Dies (libero) and Victor Novak, Przemyslaw Yv Kupka (17). (5), Mateusz Nowak, Jakub Rybic, Kajetan Marek.
Jastrzębski Wegiel: Benjamin Toniut, Jean Patri (4), Tomasz Fornal (12), Rafal Shimura (10), Yuri Gladir (11), Norbert Huber (21), Jakub Popivczak (libero) and Edwins Scruders, Ryan Sclater (11), Bartosz Makos (libero).
GW, Polsat Sport