Bogdanka LUK Lublin is the only Polish representative in the Challenge Cup, which fell to PGE Projekt Warszawa last season. Wilfredo Leon and company are currently unrivaled in subsequent rounds. This time they did not give a chance to the French Lille Tourcoing, which they defeated in Lublin 3:1 a week ago, and now they won in Lille with the same ratio.
What a show by Wilfredo Leon! Bogdanka LUK in the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup
On Tuesday afternoon, in the north of France, one of the best volleyball players in the world – Wilfredo Leon – gave the hosts a real volleyball lesson. The 31-year-old played great in attack and service, and he also performed very positively in receiving the serve, which was 60% throughout the match. This includes: thanks to this, the guests from Lublin won the first set easily to 16, which put the hosts up against the wall, because from then on the French had to win the next three games and the “golden set”.
In the second set, the hosts actually managed to take the initiative. Pulled by the Argentinian duo Koukartsev – Martinez Franchi, they had a two-three point advantage practically from the beginning, which they maintained until the score was 19:19. In fact, Bogdanka LUK even managed to take the lead 20:19, but the end belonged to Lille, as the Lublin team completely failed to cope with Tom Lavigne's serves, which series allowed Tourcoing to win 25:22, and the game was ended by Koukartsev with an effective attack.
After winning the second set, Lille Tourcoing kept going in the third set. In the middle of the game, the lead was even 15:9, which must have been worrying fans Lublin team. But why does she have Wilfredo Leon? When, after Michael Parkinson's broken serve, Leon stood in the service box himself, the real bombardment of the home team began. First, the hosts were unable to finish the attack, then in his series Leon sent as many as four aces, including three in a row, and Bennie Tuinstra used subsequent counterattacks, and from 15:9 it became 15:21, which means as many as twelve points in a row for Bogdanka! The set ended with the score 25:21 for the visitors, which already meant their advancement to the quarterfinals.
Despite this, the Lublin team did not intend to extend this meeting. In the fourth set, they defeated the broken volleyball players from France to 19 points match they triumphed 3:1.
Tuesday game was the display of Wilfredo Leon, who scored 21 points without playing in the fourth set, when the result was decided. The Olympic vice-champion had a positive opinion of 60 percent. balls, he finished 57% in attack, and added as many as five service aces. Attacker Kewin Sasak added 15 points to the guests' tally, and Pablo Koukartsev was the most effective player for the hosts, scoring 12 points.
For now, it is not known who Bogdanka LUK Lublin will play against in the quarterfinals of the Challenge Cup. Certainly the most dangerous team still in the competition is the Italian giant Cucine Lube Civitanova, with such players as Chinenyeze, Nikolov, Podrascanin, Lagumdzija and Loeppky, and led by former Asseco Resovia coach Gianpaolo Medei.