Three in three when it comes to matches and nine in nine when it comes to sets – this summarises the tournament record of hosts Grupa Azoty Kedzierzyn-Kozle after the end of the three-day event in Poland. On Thursday, they delivered their third consecutive shutout, this time of winless Lindemans Aalst of Belgium by 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-17).

At 2-1 was the last time Lindemans had the lead and at 3-3 was the last time the score was tied during the first set. Performing much better on all counts, except for unforced errors, Grupa Azoty took control of the scoreboard and cruised to a 25-19 win, shaped up with a one-man monster block by Jakub Kochanowski, who was the hero of the set also because of his 100% success rate in attack and one serving ace.

The Belgian team improved a lot offensively and especially in blocking during the second set and managed to stay competitive through 10-10. However, the home team put a lot more precision into their game and once again took charge on the court, building nicely to another 25-19 win.

Refusing to surrender, the visitors from Aalst kept the battle burning half way through the third set. At 11-10 Grupa Azoty’s way, Lindemans were still keeping close behind, but this is when the home guys ran off on a five-point run and never looked back to finish the set at 25-17, the match at 3-0, and the tournament with an impeccable record of three straight-set wins.

Middle blocker Jakub Kochanowski scored the match high of 13 points, including two aces and three blocks. The only other player to reach the double digits over the three sets of the match was his teammate Kamil Semeniuk, who contributed to the victory with 10 points (one ace, two blocks).