Written by Danijel for Volleytimes©️.
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Just like last year, in Champions League final Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie will face Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia!
The Polish champions came out on top in the second semifinal of the day at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, beating 3-1 (25:19, 24:26, 25:19, 25:19) Ziraat Bankkart Ankara and will now face the defending champions tomorrow, at 8.30pm. Zawiercie will be hoping to take a revenge for last years’ tie break defeat and claim the first European title in the club’s history!
The semifinal clash between last year’s runners-up and Ziraat started with both teams struggling to find their rhythm early on, particularly from the service line with several errors on both sides. Zawiercie, however, soon entered into the match and began to take control thanks to strong work in blocking and attack, and two blocks from Jurij Gladyr helped them move ahead 9-5.
Step by step, Ankara managed to reduce the gap to 11-8, mostly thanks to Dutch bomber Nimir Abdel-Aziz, who scored 5 points in the opening set, even if his team struggled to contain the rivals’ attack. Aaron Russell led the charge with 5 points, while Bartosz Kwolek added 3 as the Polish champions stretched their advantage to 20-15. An ace from setter Miguel Tavares is worth the 22-16 before Russell closed the set with the point of 25-19.
Nimir Abdel-Aziz and Tomasz Fornal pushed Ziraat to an early 3-0 lead in second set and, although the rivals struggled at the start, they gradually found their rhythm and, with Jurij Gladyr from the serve’s line, not only leveled the score but also moved ahead 8-7. Ankara quickly replied regained control at 12-9. Whenever Zawiercie threatened to close the gap, Nimir shone again to put down the ball of 18-13. Despite trailing 20-16, Zawiercie staged an impressive comeback with a powerful service runs from Miguel Tavares and Mateusz Bieniek, and eventually they even earned a set point, 24-23, but with a spectacular action Ankara denied them the chance to close the set and, again with Nimir, who left the court with 10 points only in this set, closed the contest 26-24.
A fierce battle continued also at the beginning of the third set, with Ziraat the first to gain a lead at 9-7, but the rivals replied immediately with Miguel Tavares at the service line. From that point on, absolutely balance until 19-19, when Mateusz Bieniek led the Polish side to the win, 25-19.
Something similar happened in decisive fourth set, with Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie who took an early 5-3 lead and Ziraat Bankkart Ankara that stayed close and continued fighting to keep their hopes alive. The team coached by Michał Winiarski then found momentum with captain Mateusz Bieniek at the service line, taking a 13-9 advantage. Although Ankara refused to surrender, strong attacks from Aaron Russell and a solid team effort helped Zawiercie regain control and move ahead 17-13, and from there, the Polish champions never looked back closing the set 25-19 after Bartosz Kwolek’s spike to book a place in their second final in a row!
The winners closed with 11 blocks, 8 aces and 41% team perfomance in attack, led by Aaron Russell, author of 16 points through 45% in attack, well supported by Karol Kłos, who added 13, while Mateusz Bieniek and Kyle Ensing added 10 each.
Nimir Abdel-Aziz, on the other side of the net, shone with 27 points through 45% in attack, and behind him in double digit only Tomasz Fornal, with 13.
“It’s definitely a big achievement, especially to go back to back to the #CLVolleyM finals, but this time we want to win it. Who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow — we’re just going to fight like there’s no tomorrow. I think the key today was our defense and serving. We also had some very important blocks in crucial moments of the match,” said Aaron Russel at the end of the match.
“Fortunately, we won and didn’t need to play five sets. We had our chances in the second set, but we didn’t take them, and then Nimir Abdel-Aziz stepped up on serve. Eventually, though, we managed to prevail 3-1. Perugia are probably the best team in the world and they consistently maintain a very high level. Tomorrow, we will play like we have nothing to lose, because the pressure will be on their side,” said Mateusz Bieniek captain of Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie.
Michał Winiarski: “I’m extremely happy with the final result. In the second set we were down 10-15, but we came back thanks to some very good serving runs and created our chances. Most importantly, the team stayed focused throughout the match. Later, Kyle Ensing came in and made a great impact. I think his substitution improved our left side attack and from that moment we started to play much better.”
“We did our best, but unfortunately it didn’t work out for us. It’s difficult to say much right after the match, but we had our chances and didn’t take them. In matches like this, if you don’t use your opportunities, the opponent will eventually turn them in their favour,” added Tomasz Fornal.
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🏆| 2025/26 CEV Champions League | Final FOUR
📍InAlpi Arena Turin
SEMIFINALS
Saturday May 16, 2026
• 17.00 (Local Time) | PGE Projekt Warzawa (POL) – Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia (ITA) 0-3 (19:25, 20:25, 24:26)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
👉🏼 20.30 (Local Time) | Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (POL) – Ziraat Bankkart Ankara (TUR) 3-1 (25:19, 24:26, 25:19, 25:19)
📸| PHOTOGALLERY OF THE MATCH
FINALS
Sunday March 17, 2026
• BRONZE MEDAL MATCH | 17.00 (Local Time) | PGE Projekt Warszawa (POL) – Ziraat Bankkart Ankara (TUR)
• GOLD MEDAL MATCH | 20.30 (Local Time) | Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia – Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (POL)
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