Poland: Skra Bełchatów win PlusLiga classic vs. ZAKSA

PGE Skra Bełchatów prevailed in the Polish Volleyball classic against titleholders Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle, valid for Round 19 of the 2019/20 regular season.
The PlusLiga big match in Bełchatów attracted nearly 3,000 fans at the Hala Energia with tickets being sold out already two weeks ago!
These two sides met 52 times in PlusLiga prior this encounter.
The Bełchatów team won 29 times and ZAKSA 23 times. Skra couldn’t count on a starting outside hitter Artur Szalpuk and, on the other hand, ZAKSA finally had Piotr Łukasik and Łukasz Kaczmarek at the disposal. With 19 points (88.2% attack, 15/17), Jakub Kochanowski led six players of Skra with double digits in scoring. Karol Kłos made 5 winning blocks while Aleksander Śliwka put down 24 points for the losing side.
The result of the classic didn’t cause a reshuffle in the standings. Because of a surprising defeat yesterday, VERVA Warszawa ORLEN Paliwa didn’t manage to further isolate at the top, ZAKSA are second, Skra are third. However, due to a shocking loss of the fourth-placed Jastrzębski Węgiel against Aluron Virtu CMC Zawiercie (3-2), the gap between the top three teams and the rest of the league has increased.

Plusliga 2019/20 Regular Season – Round 19

February 14
Indykpol AZS Olsztyn – Slepsk Malow Suwalki 1-3 (32:34, 23:25, 25:23, 17:25)
Trefl Gdansk – Cuprum Lubin 3-0 (26:24, 25:17,25:16)

February 15
Asseco Resovia Rzeszow – MKS Bedzin 2-3 (23:25, 25:18, 25:20, 20:25, 11:15)
Cerrad Enea Czarni Radom – VERVA Warszawa ORLEN Paliwa 3-1 (25:19, 22:25, 25:21, 25:23)

February 16
PGE Skra Belchatow – Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle 3-2 (25:21, 25:17, 25:27, 21:25, 15:10)
Top Scorers: Kochanowski 19, Ebadipour 18, Klos 15, Katic 14, Petkovic 10, Wlazly 10; Sliwka 24, Smith 11, Wisniewski 8, Semeniuk 7, Lukasik 6.
MVP: Kochanowski.

Aluron Virtu CMC Zawiercie – Jastrzebski Wegiel 3-2 (21:25, 19:25, 28:26, 25:22, 15:11)
Top Scorers: Walinski 19, Bociek 16, N. Penchev 11, Gawryszewski 9; Konarski 19, Fromm 17, T. Fornal 13, Vigrass 11. MVP: Walinski.

February 17
GKS Katowice – BKS Visla Bydgoszcz