Bartosz Kwolek after a long action in the second set fell on the dance floor, and the fans in the stands grabbed their heads. A moment later, the runner -up of the world from 2022 moved outwardly towards the judge and frustrated hit his hands on the post on which the referee stood. The conciliator several times in the Champions League final in Łódź took its toll on volleyballers Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and maybe this anger also helped them extend the competition. Kwolek then fell again, this time after scoring a point in an amazing style. But the players of Sir Sicii Monini Perugi finally took away their hope for another great amazing return in Łódź, showing a completely different face than two days earlier.
– Who is the favorite? No, Perugia. I saw that something happened to Yukie Ishikawa, and “Semen” has some problems. But let's face it, they have a composition built to win everything. And I think that their President PO spends such money to win and wait for this triumph in LM for years. But we certainly will not lie down and fight to the last ball – assured after the semi -final captain Zawiercian Mateusz Bieniek.
After the semi -final with Jastrzębski Węgl, in which his team returned almost from the afterlife. She was already losing 0: 2, but the changes made by coach Michał Winiarski did miracles and after defending two match balls she used the sixth such opportunity. And one could wonder if the band, which in recent weeks, was harassed by health problems and was broken in the PlusLiga final, in the final of LM will play on this Saturday wave, or or feel too much side effects of a five -hundred battle ended just over the day earlier. Perugia, in turn, rested on Saturday, because – according to the Final Four program in Łódź – she played her semi -final with Halkbank Ankara on Friday evening.
And the Italian-Turkish semi-final was simply ugly and one-sided pain. It was expected that the Gigant from Italy, which is managed by the eccentric president of Gino Sirci, will present itself much better on Sunday and it was so. The inhabitants really tried to show a second time that they were fighting even when they were counted. That is why they led a long time in the second set and therefore won the third and fourth.
But at key moments, usually Perugia turned on the fifth gear. Oleh Płotnicki and Wassim Ben Tara played the first violin, who in the past played in Nysa Stal, and which the Polish Volleyball Federation is now fighting in the context of the staff. And Ishikawa often cleverly bump their block.
In the semi -finals, Aluron was strongly helped by Karol Butryn, who was restored to the FF played by physiotherapists. The basic attackers by ankle bypassed four matches of the Ekstraklasa final. On Sunday he played from the beginning, but it did not give the same effect and this time he was replaced by Kyle Ensing, who rehabilitated for a weaker attitude the day before. But he wasn't the brightest. This was done by Aaron Russell, who played less on Saturday and Kwolek, undoubtedly the leader of Zawiercian this season.
The latter doubled and tripled. A very long action from the second set was eloquent – with a 9: 7 result. The runner -up in the world 2022 got the ball several times, and eventually he was blocked, and the ball on the way struck his head. Exhausted, he fell on the dance floor and did not rise for a moment.
After another action, however, he immediately went to the judge and hit the post with anger. His colleagues also protested strongly and – as it turned out after the video verification – rightly, because the decision was changed. This was not the first situation of this type in this meeting – in the first set Bieniek applauded the arbiter eloquently.
It was also in the Opening Party that the Zawiercians managed to deceive rivals. At 9:11 they sent a powerful service, which the libero of Aluron Luke Perry took on his fingers. However, he did it inaccurately. The playmakers of the Polish runner -up Miguel Tavares jumped up as if to put up and the rivals were fooled and none of them reacted to the ball, which fell stray on their side.
Until the very end, Alurur's players tried to cheat them for the second time, rising from their knees after the second set. And deceive fate, because it seemed impossible that in two days they had such a return twice. And their fight kidnapped everyone in the Atlas Arena. In the fourth set, even players of Jastrzębski Węgiel cheered on them. However, this was not enough to perform a volleyball miracle again. The Italian wall turned out to be too strong. And Polish fans remains to enjoy the triumph of compatriots from Perugia – Kamil Semeniuk, who treats a slight injury and Łukasz Usowicz, who joined the Italian giant in an emergency in January.