Jastrzebski Clinched the Polish Cup, Five-Set Thrillers in Italian Semifinals

An action-packed weekend of domestic volleyball brought major developments for the #CLVolleyM semifinalists. In Poland, Jastrzebski captured the national cup in front of a record-breaking crowd, while in Italy, Perugia and Trentino came out on top after dramatic five-set battles in the SuperLega semifinals.

The TAURON Polish Cup Final Four was held this weekend, featuring both of the country's CEV Champions League Volley semifinalists. On Saturday, Jastrzebski Wegiel comfortably defeated Bogdanka LUK Lublin in straight sets, while Aluron CMC Warta-Zawiercie did the same against Projekt Warszawa to set up a blockbuster final between the two continental contenders.

Sunday’s final, played in front of 14,157 fans—setting a new attendance record for Polish club competitions—lived up to expectations. Zawiercie, the defending champions, started strong and took the opening set. But Jastrzebski responded with relentless pressure, taking the next three sets in a fiercely competitive battle that ended with a dramatic 30-28 finish in the fourth (3-1: 18-25, 25-22, 25-22, 30-28). With this victory, Jastrzebski lifted the Polish Cup for just the second time in their history, ending a streak of five final defeats and avenging last year’s loss to Zawiercie.

Tomasz Fornal was named MVP of the final after contributing 15 points, while French outside hitter Timothée Carle led all scorers with 22. For Zawiercie, Karol Butryn and Bartosz Kwolek scored 19 and 18 points respectively, but their efforts were not enough to retain the title.

In Italy, the second leg of the SuperLega semifinals saw another thrilling chapter in the duel between the #CLVolleyM semifinalist Sir Sicoma Monini Perugia and Cucine Lube Civitanova. After a dominant 3-0 victory in the first leg, Perugia faced a far greater challenge this time. The match swung back and forth across four tight sets before Perugia closed out the tie-break with poise (3-2: 25-21, 18-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-10), taking a 2-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

Wassim Ben Tara stood out for Perugia with 23 points, supported by Kamil Semeniuk and Oleh Plotnytskyi with 15 each. Adis Lagumdzija and Mattia Bottolo led the scoring for Lube, both registering 17 points in the loss.

Meanwhile, Itas Trentino also moved one step closer to the final by edging Gas Sales Bluenergy Piacenza in another five-set thriller. With this second consecutive 3-2 win, the regular season leaders now hold a 2-0 advantage in the series.

As the national competitions move toward their climactic conclusions, the #CLVolleyM semifinalists continue to shine on all fronts, combining domestic dominance with their European ambitions.