PlusLiga 2025-2026
The defending Polish champions dominated their rivals, who were forced to play with only seven available athletes due to widespread illness.
Setter and captain Marcin Komenda led Lublin to a three-set victory over Warsaw (Photo: Plus Liga)
Reigning PlusLiga champions BOGDANKA LUK Lublin have ascended to the top of the standings in the 2025-2026 Polish League, securing the position before the completion of the regular season’s first half. This achievement followed a decisive 3-0 victory over a significantly weakened PGE Projekt Warsaw squad on Tuesday.
Playing at home against their primary rivals for first place, Lublin completely controlled the postponed match from the 12th leg of the first round. They triumphed with set scores of 3-0 (27-25, 25-22, 25-23), extending their impressive winning streak across domestic and continental tournaments to eight matches.
Shifting Standings
The win propelled Lublin to 30 points (ten wins, three losses), allowing them to overtake Warsaw, who finished the first half of the season with the same win-loss record but accumulated only 28 points.
Warsaw Battles Adversity
PGE Projekt Warsaw faced extreme difficulties, traveling to Lublin with only seven players available due to severe infections and fever symptoms affecting the team. Key absences included star middle blockers Jakub Kochanowski and Karol Kłos, outside hitter Bartosz Bednorz, and German opposite Linus Weber.
Due to the lack of available athletes, head coach Tommi Tiilikainen was forced to deploy players entirely out of position: Libero Damian Wojtaszek played as an outside hitter, setter Michał Kozłowski as a middle blocker, and outside hitter Brandon Koppers as an opposite.
Lublin capitalized on this situation with a strong offensive performance. Opposite Mateusz Malinowski was the leading scorer for the champions with 17 points (15 kills, two aces), closely followed by outside hitter Jakub Wachnik, who added 13 points (12 kills, one block).
Despite the adverse circumstances, Warsaw demonstrated incredible effort. Brandon Koppers led all scorers in the match with 18 points (15 kills, three blocks), while the makeshift outside hitter Wojtaszek managed an admirable ten points (eight kills, two blocks).
“Today it wasn’t about the points,” Wojtaszek stated after the match. “We wanted to play this match despite the situation. There were only seven of us, so some of us had to play different positions. It was a fight to survive, and we knew we couldn`t have anyone injured, so we just gave up on some plays at the net to not risk anything. We did what we could, and I hope the fans enjoyed the match.”
Other PlusLiga Results
In the other match of the day, also part of the 12th leg, Indykpol AZS Olsztyn secured a dramatic five-set road victory against PlusLiga rookies InPost ChKS Chełm: 3-2 (19-25, 15-25, 28-26, 25-20, 15-8). This result propelled Olsztyn from sixth to fourth place in the league table with 27 points (nine wins, four losses). Chełm remains in 12th place with ten points (three wins, ten losses).
Following upcoming Polish Cup matches, the PlusLiga regular season resumes on January 2nd with encounters from the second leg of the second round.