One Polish team to be in the final of the #CLVolleyM after quarter-finals decide Final Four participants

Poland will surely have one team in the last act of Final Four in this season of the CEV Champions League Men, after both Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and Jastrzębski Węgiel made it to the business end of the competition, with Halkbank Ankara and Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia following suit and clinching a ticket for the showdown in Łódź.

The quarter-finals of the European premium competition provided some entertaining and dramatic matches, with only two teams registering two wins – Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia and Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie, while Jastrzębski Węgiel and Halkbank Ankara needed to mount comebacks to clinch their tickets.

Arguably, the most dramatic doubleheader was the one between Halkbank Ankara and PGE Projekt Warszawa, as the Turkish side had, once again, to prove their worth in a high-pressure environment, to clinch their Final Four tickets.

In the previous phase of the competition, Ankara eliminated Allianz Milano with a 15:13 win in the golden set, after splitting wins with the Italian team. Here, against PGE Projekt Warszawa, Halkbank took a 3:1 win in the first leg, but were outplayed in the second leg, conceding all three sets.

As Bartlomiej Boladz and Artur Szalpuk each scored 18 points and Warszawa’s attacking efficiency was over 50% in the first three sets, including a fantastic 76% in the third set, the Polish side won the match, 25:20; 25:19; 25:20, pushing the doubleheader into a golden set.

But the Polish side’s 12 aces were cancelled by Ankara’s furious comeback, dominating the golden set, as Dick Kooy and Marek Sotola combined for 29 points, while Yoandy Hidalgo added 11 more points, to help their side clinch a 15:12 win.

It was the third consecutive golden set won by Ankara in the last three editions of the CEV Champions League Men and their second semi-finals appearance in that timespan, as the Turkish side confirmed, once again, their penchant of delivering what is needed in crunch time.

Italy were sure to have a team in the Final Four as Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia and Mint Vero Volley Monza clashed and it was Perugia which extended their domination over their fellow Italian side, delivering two good matches to secure two 3:1 wins.

In the second leg, played on their home court, the Italian champions left little to chance, securing their qualification after the third set, which they took in flawless fashion, 25:14.

Previously, Perugia clinched the first set, 25:18, but Monza rallied back with a 25:23 win in the second set, but no player had more than 11 points scored, with Eric Röhrs topping the charts. But as Yuki Ishikawa (19 points) and Oleh Plotnytskyi (13 points) dominated at the net, Perugia roared back and finished the match with a 31:29 win in the fourth set.

Perugia have made the semi-finals six times in the last eight years, going into the final in 2017, and stopping in semis in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023. Therefore, the teams meeting in the second semi-final, Halkbank Ankara and Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia, were both eliminated in the semi-finals in the 2022/23 season.

"We told ourselves today that we were chasing a final, in this case the Final Four, so we are very happy because it was a goal we had and we are also happy with how we did it because we played two and a half sets at a high level apart from a moment in the second set, but our opponents were also good. Now we are happy and honoured to go and represent ourselves and also Italy because we will play abroad against foreign teams,” said Perugia’s setter, Simone Giannelli. 

The other semi-final will see the rematch of the Polish league final in the last season, with both Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie and Jastrzębski Węgiel making it to the Final Four.

Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie are for the first time in the semi-finals of the CEV Champions League Men and they have made it there with a clear 3:1 win in the second leg of the quarter-finals against SVG Lüneburg, after they took the first match, 3:0, in Germany.

There was no question about the winner of the doubleheader, with Zawiercie winning the first two sets in commanding fashion, 25:19 and 25:19, before conceding the third set, 23:25.

With 20 points scored, Bartosz Kwolek was superb for Zawiercie, which delivered 14 aces, thoroughly outplaying their opponents in their maiden trip to the knockout phase of the European premium competition, now having a chance to compete for the trophy.

“I’m really happy we qualified for the Final Four, it was our dream from the beginning. We achieved our goal and now everything’s possible. After winning two sets I believe that we couldn’t find our rhythm in the third set. But in the fourth set we started again to play our volleyball,” said Michał Winiarski’s, Zawiercie’s coach.

Polish champions Jastrzębski Węgiel also mounted a spirited comeback and ensured a die-hard clash with Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie in the semi-finals, after sweeping Olympiacos Piraeus in the second leg of the quarter-finals.

Jastrzębski Węgiel took the first two sets in the first leg, but conceded a 3:2 loss, therefore a 3:0 or a 3:1 win here would have been enough to make it to the Final Four and this is exactly what the Polish powerhouse, runners-up in the previous two seasons, managed to do.

As Łukasz Kaczmarek scored 15 points, Tomasz Fornal added 14 points and Timothée Carle had 13 points, Jastrzębski had a pretty straightforward gameplan, which they executed well, totalling 64% attacking efficiency over the three sets, taking them without a shadow of a doubt, 25:21, 25:21 and 25:19, despite Olympiacos producing some great volleyball.

Aleksandar Atanasijevic had 12 points – the only player to score in double digits – but Jastrzębski are back in the semi-finals for the fourth consecutive season, delivering another good performance on their home court.