Strong Start From Perugia, Warta-Zawiercie Secured Their Spot in Polish Semifinals

The weekend delivered intense volleyball action across Europe's top leagues, with the #CLVolleyM semifinalists continuing their domestic journeys. While Perugia impressed in Italy with a clean sweep in their semifinal opener, Poland's semifinalists are now fully confirmed—with Warta Zawiercie joining Jastrzebski. However, it was a tough weekend in Türkiye for Halkbank, who suffered a surprising defeat in the 5th-8th playoffs.

In Italy, the highly anticipated SuperLega semifinal round began, as reigning national champions and #CLVolleyM semifinalists Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia hosted Cucine Lube Civitanova. Perugia showed their strength from the very first serve, playing a focused and aggressive game to take a dominant 3-0 victory (25-22, 25-19, 25-22), securing a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Ukrainian outside hitter Oleh Plotnystkyi led the way with a solid 14-point performance, while Tunisian star Wassim Ben Tara and Polish outside Kamil Semeniuk each contributed 10 points. On the losing side, Turkish opposite Adis Lagumdzija scored 16, but it wasn't enough to challenge Perugia's control.

Over in Poland, the PlusLiga quarterfinals concluded, and the four semifinalists are now locked in. Alongside Jastrzebski Wegiel, Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie punched their ticket with another commanding win over Asseco Resovia Rzeszow (3-0: 27-25, 25-18, 25-18). Once again, Warta-Zawiercie's cohesion and power proved decisive.

Polish outside hitter Bartosz Kwolek was named MVP thanks to his all-around effort and 12 points, while American international Aaron Russell led the scoreboard with 16. Despite a solid 17-point performance from French opposite Stephen Boyer, Resovia couldn’t find the rhythm to extend the series.

Meanwhile, it was a surprising and difficult weekend for Turkish powerhouse Halkbank Ankara. Competing in the first leg of the 5th-8th placement playoffs in Türkiye, the #CLVolleyM semifinalists fell to Alanya Belediyespor in four sets (1-3: 19-25, 21-25, 25-23, 31-33), raising eyebrows just weeks ahead of their #CLVolleyM semifinal clash.

As domestic seasons head into their final stages, the pressure is mounting on the top European clubs to balance international and national ambitions—and the action promises to be even more intense in the coming weeks.