In focus: Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn Koźle

Polish powerhouse Grupa Azoty Zaksa Kędzierzyn Koźle had reigned in Europe in the last two years. After earning two consecutive titles in the Champions League, the winners of PlusLiga 2022 are naturally one of the top contenders in the quest for the European crown also in this edition.  

Grupa Azoty Zaksa Kędzierzyn Koźle won their maiden #CLVolleyM title in 2021 in Verona, becoming the first team from Poland to achieve this feat (in 1978 Płomień Milowice won Poland's only title in the Champions Cup, predecessor of the Champions League). On their way to the title they beat the European giants, astonishing Volleyball fans. Despite several changes in their line-up, they repeated this feat in even more impressive style in 2022. However, Zaksa recorded achievements on the European stage also before. Their first European medal came in 2000, when they finished 3rd in the Challenge Cup. Three years later, in 2003, the team from Kędzierzyn Koźle earned a bronze medal in the Champions League. They were classified 4^th in the #CLVolleyM three times – in 2002, 2013, 2018. Once in 2011, Zaksa triumphed in the CEV Cup.

The nine-time national champions of Poland have an astonishing list of honors in domestic competitions. Their recent golden era started in the last decade. Grupa Azoty Zaksa Kędzierzyn Koźle has dominated the Polish stage in the last decade, being the finalist of PlusLiga with no interruption since the 2015/2016 season. In that period they claimed four titles and two vice-championships (2018, 2021). Zaksa triumphed on nine occasions also in the Polish Cup, including the two latest editions. In addition, they won the Polish SuperCup twice (2019, 2020).

Back-to-back #CLVolleyM champions Grupa Azoty Zaksa Kędzierzyn Koźle are among the pre-favourites again, however several changes have been applied to their roster. Tuomas Sammelvuo, replaced Gheorghe Cretu at the helm of Zaksa’s head coach, but the most significant one is the lack of  their "scoring-machine" Kamil Semeniuk. MVP of the SuperFinals 2022 and a core member of Zaksa's winning squad  joined Sir Safety Perugia for the 2022/2023 season. It seems that captain – outside hitter and 2021 MVP - Aleksander Śliwka and opposite Łukasz Kaczmarek have even bigger pressure on their arms, as they supposed to take over ‘scoring duty’. Śliwka was 3^rd best scorer in 2021, once Kaczmarek 4^th, but in 2022 #CLVolleyM they were classified 15^th and 16^th, with 105 and 104 points, respectively. Zaksa appointed promising 20-year-old outside hitter Denis Karyagin from Bulgaria, but Sammelvuo also has Wojciech Żaliński and Adrian Staszewski in his squad. A blocking revelation from last season – middle blocker Norbert Huber is still recovering from an Achilles tendon injury, which he suffered in the final match of PlusLiga in early-May 2022. Next to American star David Smith, Zaksa has in its ranks three other middle blockers - Dmitrii Pashitskii, Tomasz Kalembka and Twan Wiltenburg. Last season’s revelation Mariusz Janusz stayed on playmaking duty, once Erik Shoji keeps impressing with his defensive skills. Even if it won’t be easy to fill the gap left by Semeniuk, Zaksa have already proved that nothing is impossible for them.  

The start of the season in the national league definitely was not a perfect one for Zaksa. The team from Kędzierzyn Koźle is classified 5th with four wins and three unexpected losses - to other Poland's representative in this edition of the Champions League, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercia (1-3), PSG Stal Nysa (0-3) and the most recent to Asseco Resovia Rzeszów (0-3). The team around Sammuelvuo had one more bitter pill to swallow at the beginning of the season, as they lost after a thrilling five-setter to Jastrzębski Węgiel in the Polish SuperCup. But we can be more than sure that the team will do their best to come back stronger and start their European campaign on a high note.

Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn Koźle will open their new #CLVolleyM campaign on November 9 at home, taking on Czech neighbors - ČEZ Karlovarsko. One week later, on November 16, they will travel to Belgium to play against newcomer - Decospan VT Menen. Then – the re-match of the SuperFinals – Zaksa and Trentino will lock horns on November 29 in Trento. Unlike their main Pool D rivals, the team from Kędzierzyn Koźle decided to withdraw from the 2022 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship in Betim, Brazil, like they also did last year. In Leg 4, on December 14, they will face Decospan VT Menen again, to open a new year with a game against Karlovarsko on January 11. The quest for spots in quarterfinals will be completed on January 25th with Zaksa vs Trentino clash in Kędzierzyn Koźle.

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