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Grupa Azoty KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE reached the semi-finals of the Champions League after beating their opponent Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA in a thrilling Golden Set. After winning their first encounter in this phase of the competition, the Polish team needed to win two sets to secure their place in the next round. Despite having the court advantage, Kędzierzyn Koźle fall short against the Italians, who won the match in straight sets. The Golden Set proved the most competitive between both teams as they fought point by point until an ace by Kaczmarek used to second set-point for Kędzierzyn Koźle to seal the deal with an ace.

The opening set appeared to be a sheer show of force in attack lines launched by Kędzierzyn Koźle. Civitanova fell 8-4 behind and soon was forced to get Kamil Rychlicki to help his team-mates in the reception as Semeniuk continued to serve. Then an awakening from Leal when it comes to serve and Civitanova bounce back and they soon chased the score back to 8-7. Both teams showed very skilful wing attacks and the hosts soon jumped to 11-8 ahead, forcing Civitanova to take an early time out. After four attempts finally a brilliant counter-attack by the Italians, who diminished the gap to only 12-11 for the hosts. Lube continued the fight and tied a score at 14-14 with a strong spike by Rychlicki. The game continued with Kędzierzyn Koźle jumping 3 points ahead with Kochanowksi’s attack at 18-15 only for the Italians to level at 18-18 with a firm block on Semeniuk. Civitanova came ahead for the first time when Simon scored a lovely ace at 21-22. This was a turning point for the Italian club who maintained the momentum and an ace by Rychlicki closed the set 22-25.

From the very beginning of the second set Grupa Azoty started to commit increasingly more mistakes, which was brutally exploited by Lube. Sensing their chance and led by Juantorena, Civitanova went 7-10 ahead in the second set after a few rallies being carried point by point. Kędzierzyn Koźle did not allow the Italians to get too comfortable and a series of blocks gave the hosts a promising comeback to 12-10, when a single block of Kochanowski stops Simon. The middle-blocker of Civitanova soon redeemed himself, scoring an ace to level the score 14-14. Then a sheer nail biter followed in the next part of the match, starting from 17-20 when Zaksa managed to bounce back to 22-21. A monster block puts the hosts at 23-21, but Civitanova managed to level the score yet again. Simon delivers a spike after an exciting rally at a set-point for Kędzierzyn Koźle and a long spike by Semeniuk turns the table, allowing the Italians to play a set-point. Simon proves a leader of his team in the last minutes of the second set as he seals the deal with an ace, as Civitanova win their second set 24-26.

When Grupa Azoty took the lead 4-0 with Toniutti's brilliant play and two blocks by Kochanowski, it seemed that the hosts caught the "wind in their sails". The Italians quickly led to a draw 6-6 and soon gained more confidence when they reached a 9-12, forcing the hosts to call a time out. Civitanova maintained the four-point advantage until Kochanowski has broken through with a great spike. This wasn’t enough in this part of the set, as Italians continued to stretch the point gap to 13-18. Meanwhile the hosts brought reinforcements, with Krzysztof Rejno entering the court in place of David Smith, and the team regained some faith. An ace by Semeniuk brought the hosts closer to 17-19, forcing Civitanova to call a time out. Another ace from the Polish side, this time by Krzysztof Rejno, brought Kędzierzyn Koźle close to 19-20 and a clever spike by Śliwka made it level at a crucial moment of the set. Both teams delivered yet another nail biter, going point by point until Semeniuk’s spike brought Kędzierzyn Koźle the first set-point in the third set. Civitanova responded with a double block on Semeniuk, getting their first match-point at 24-25 and followed with another one - this time stopping Kaczmarek, securing a victory at 3-0.

There was no time to relax for either of the teams as semi-final spot was going to be decided in a Golden Set. The Italians opened strongly with a 1-3, but the hosts soon tied at 4-4. The game continued with a power display between the opposites Rychlicki and Kaczmarek and Semeniuk put Kędzieryzn Koźle ahead for the first time at 6-5. The teams changed sides with Civitanova slightly ahead at 7-8, but the hosts levelled right away at 8-8. Śliwka’s long spike could have been a crucial mistake for his team, but he quickly fixed it with another spike to keep the hosts level with the Italians at 11-11. Meanwhile Civitanova remained restless from the service line, challenging the hosts’ reception with every rally. The Polish withheld the pressure and scored with yet another spike for 12-12, as the golden set continued point by point. A mistake on the Italian side was followed by an ace from Kochanowksi, giving Grupa Azoty the first crucial golden set-point. A spike through the middle by Rejno gave the hosts a second set-point and an ace by Kaczmarek brought the match to an end as Kędzierzyn Koźle won their way into the Champions League semi-final!

• In the first set Aleksander Śliwka reached 80% efficiency, while Osmany Juantorena 60%. 

• Both teams performed well at the service line, with Civitanova scoring 10 points and Kędzierzyn Koźle scoring 9 points in this element

• Simon proved to be the best server of the match with 4 aces, while the only ace scored by Łukasz Kaczmarek was delivered in the most crucial moment of the match - at the end of the Golden Set

• Jakub Kochanowski was the top blocker of the match with 4 points in this element, closely followed by Simone Anzani with 3 points for Civitanova

• Setters of both teams proved capable of using all of their assets, as wingers of both teams scored double-digits numbers of points for their respective teams 

• Benjamin Toniutti was named MVP of the match

Benjamin Toniutti, setter and captain of Grupa Azoty KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE: “Awesome! I can't believe it! We came back from a long journey, because Civitanova played a great match. However, we believed until the end that we could beat the favourite! Fantastic feeling.”

Łukasz Kaczmarek, opposite of Grupa Azoty KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE: “I don't get it yet. In each of the sets we were very close to our rivals, but only the very end gave us luck. I risked a strong serve in the end.”

Osmany Juantorena, captain and outside spiker of Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA: “What can I say, we ran out of luck. Both teams deserved promotion because both played 100 percent of their abilities”

Gianlorenzo Blengini, coach of Cucine Lube CIVITANOVA: "The epilogue is very sad for us, because we played a game of suffering, uphill from the beginning. Not only because of the result of the first leg, but also because the hosts were immediately on fire and capable to get on the ropes at the start. We managed to stay in the wake and to overtake. There is some regret for the Golden Set lost by one ball. We have wasted several opportunities after good defensive plays. We weren't good enough to take a few points ahead and get the qualification”.