Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle on the precipice. This match will be crucial

In terms of last season and previous years in general, the fight for a place in the play-offs for the Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle volleyball team looks to be particularly interesting. Until recently, it was difficult to imagine the quarterfinals without the Polish runners-up, and in the final stretch such a scenario is not so obvious.

Erik Shoji on great emotions at the end of PlusLiga

If we were to gather all the teams that would like and still have the opportunity to play in the play-offs, there will actually be five teams playing for positions 7-8. And the schedules for each team seem to have both hypothetically easier and extremely demanding matchups. Example? ZAKSA will play against Ślepsk Malow Suwałki. An opponent who seems to be outplayed, but there will certainly be a tough game at the end of the main phase. Erik Shoji, the American libero of the Polish runners-up, does not hide it.

– Suwałki have recently started playing very well. They managed to break two sets between Warta Zawiercie and Jastrzębie. We are already thinking about this match to get three points. Of course, we also want to win the remaining matches, but we realize that not everything is in our hands. Then we play against Warta and Jastrzębski. We will look at the remaining rivals. I know the entire schedule by heart and I know who is playing with whom, but I won't talk about it now (laughter). We'll see, I think that following these last rounds will be very interesting – admitted ZAKSA's libero in an interview published on the Polsatsport.pl website.

Will Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle lose the season?

After 27 rounds, the closest to happiness are the volleyball players of PSG Stal Nysa and Indykpol AZS Olsztyn. However, the difference between the seventh team in the table and the eleventh place is only four points. This is the best proof of how tight the league hierarchy is and how crucial the last three rounds will be.

This is what the schedule of games involved in the direct playoffs looks like.

PSG Stal Nysa (7th place, 40 points, 13 wins)

• Projekt Warszawa (29/03, 17:30, home)

• Ślepsk Malow Suwałki (02/04, 15:45, departure)

• Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (06/04, 20:30, home)

Indykpol AZS Olsztyn (8th place, 40 points, 11 wins)

• Trefl Gdańsk (30/03, 17:30, home)

• Project Warsaw (03/04, 21:00, departure)

• Ślepsk Malow Suwałki (06/04, 17:30, home)

Grupa Azoty ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle (9th place, 39 points, 13 wins)

• Ślepsk Malow Suwałki (29/03, 20:30, home)

• Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie (02/04, 21:00, departure)

• Jastrzębski Węgiel (06/04, 14:45, departure)

PGE GiEK Skra Bełchatów (10th place, 36 points, 13 wins)

• Enea Czarni Radom (30/03, 12:30, home)

• Jastrzębski Węgiel (03/04, 15:45, departure)

• Barkom Kazhany Lviv (07/04, 17:30, home)

Barkom Kazhany Lviv (11th place, 36 points, 13 wins

• GKS Katowice (28/03, 20:30, away)

• Enea Czarni Radom (04/04, 20:30, home)

• PGE GiEK Skra Bełchatów (07/04, 17:30, home)

It is worth adding that the play-off phase starts on April 10. Then the first quarter-final matches will be played. The rematches are scheduled for April 13. In the case of this competition, the match-rematch system with a possible golden set will be decisive.