Zaksa Going for the Champions League Volley Treble
Preview
Winner of the last two CEV Champions League Volley SuperFinals, Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn-Koźle is now in a position to complete a very elusive achievement in continental volleyball, becoming a three-time winner of the Champions League. Between them and a third title stands none other than domestic rival and recently crowned Polish Champion, Jastrzebski Wegiel.
Following two winning campaigns in the Champions League, Zaksa appointed a new coach to take the helm of the Polish powerhouse, Finnish legend Tuomas Sammelvuo. While he still had the core of the team that became champion at his disposal, Sammelvuo had to do without Kamil Semeniuk, one of the leading figures in the team following his transfer to Perugia.
The team seemed to be needing time going into the European cup season, struggling against bitter rivals Trentino Itas in the pool phase and having to go through the playoffs to ensure their spot in the top eight. However, after the winter break, Zaksa started to gain confidence and began visibly raising the level of their game.
The arrival of Bartosz Bednorz in spring and the increased consistency of setter Marcin Janusz, now in his second season with the team, contributed greatly to Zaksa regaining the cohesion within the team that so heavily relied on for success in previous seasons.
Stepping up to the plate this season in the absence of Kamil Semeniuk was also Lukasz Kaczmarek, winner of several MVP awards during this season and leader of the scorers charts (219 pts) before the SuperFinals match. His points tallyis the most by any man in a Champions League season since Aleksandar Atanasijević (271) and Maurice Armandao Torres (219) in the 2017/18 season.
The good run that Zaksa has been on recently was interrupted harshly in the Polish Finals by Jastrzebski Wegiel just a few days ago, after only 3 matches of a best in 5 series . We will not know what impact losing the Polish Final will have on the team until first serve this Saturday, but if there is any team that could overcome that, that would be Grupa Azoty Kędzierzyn-Koźle.