The silent hero of PGE Projekt Warszawa. He found a way to historic success

Before the quarter-final competition in the Champions League, the volleyball players were the favorites in the clash between two PlusLiga clubs – Bogdanka LUK Lublin and PGE Projekt Warszawa – the former were given more chances. The national champions could certainly look at their domestic rival with their heads held high, at least through the prism of previous meetings, but also how both teams performed at the earlier stage of the game.

Bogdanka LUK won its group, and PGE Projekt had to fight until the very end for a pass to… a second chance, i.e. competition in an additional two-legged match. However, the Warsaw team first won the right to play in the knockout phase of the Champions League, and then eliminated the Italian Itas Trentino. And this even after losing the match at Torwar in Warsaw (2:3). PGE Projekt won the rematch (3:2), and additionally added the winning, so-called the golden set, which is not easy for any visiting team to win on the Apennine Peninsula.

As it turned out, this was only the beginning of the Warsaw team’s displays.

Kamil Nalepka gave the team peace. The silent hero of PGE Projekt Warszawa

We recently wrote about a series of victories of volleyball players from the capital in WPROST. After winning against Bogdanka LUK at home (3:1), the Warsaw team had to be careful in the second match. The formula of the Champions League is such that even if you win with a full pool (3:0 or 3:1), the rematch may be a completely different story and the rivals can not only make up for the losses, but also add a golden set – an additional game played to 15 points – ending their dreams of success.

However, such a scenario did not take place on Wednesday, late afternoon, at the premises of the Polish champions. PGE Projekt Warszawa was supposed to win two sets to complete the club’s historic success, i.e. promotion to the Final Four of the Champions League. This trick was a success almost immediately. The Warsaw team started with 2-0 in sets and, to the astonishment of the Lublin audience, they closed the emotions in this match. Bogdanka LUK had to swallow a bitter pill and even the final 3-2 victory of the hosts did not matter anymore.

Again, a lot of praise should be directed to Bartosz Bednorz, the undisputed leader of PGE Projekt. It was no coincidence that the host was the best scorer in the first two key sets of the rematch.

However, it is worth taking this opportunity to pay respect to the work done by coach Kamil Nalepka. The hero is not obvious on PGE Projekt’s side, because he often has much more experienced people around him – headed by the team captain, Damian Wojtaszek. However, the 1995 trainer was able to skillfully fit into the Warsaw team. Unlike his predecessor, Finn Tommi Tiilikainen, who preferred a dynamic game – but not necessarily an accurate one – currently PGE Projekt is able to reliably implement the assumed plan. Consistently, often painfully, tormenting the opponent with his tactics.

Much of this is due to Nalepka, who gained the team’s acceptance (he was previously the Finn’s assistant on the PGE Projekt staff), and was additionally trusted by the club’s president, Piotr Gacek, and the coach himself is writing his own history. It is worth adding that Nalepka – in addition to his club work – is a member of coach Nikola Grbic’s staff. In the Polish national team, he serves as the team’s statistician, so his analytical mind, skillful use of data, and appropriate on-field reactions are certainly on his side.

The red and white sticker was won by, among others, Olympic runner-up (2024). And in the past he worked, among others: in PGE GiEK Skra Bełchatów, LUK Lublin (of course!), SMS PZPS Spała or AZS AGH Kraków – from which he entered wider waters, when the Krakow club was still successfully playing in the PlusLiga base.

Moreover, the people of Warsaw have a good hand when it comes to opportunities for Polish coaches. While one can still ask whether it was right to bring in Tiilikainen, Piotr Graban also had a good time in PGE Projekt in the recent past. Currently the coach of the Polish youth national team, with whom we talked in more detail on WPROST.

Behind the scenes, the figure of the Italian trainer Roberto Piazza has been associated with PGE Projekt for a long time. The Italian is considered a top-class professional. He has already worked in PlusLiga, most recently in Bełchatów in 2017-19. Skra then won the Polish championship (its last one), and it was at Piazza that Michał Winiarski developed his coaching skills.

It is difficult to predict that the Warsaw club would decide to give up such a specialist, but coach Nalepka has certainly made an important step in his career. And if he stays working in Warsaw, e.g. as Piazza’s assistant, this may be another important step in his training journey, with the prospect of new challenges in the future. Without taking away from the really solid results so far, the Polish coach has carried and still bears the burden of expectations that never cease.

The historic place in the Final Four of the Champions League for PGE Projekt is a result that will certainly erase last year’s nightmare and defeat in the quarterfinals – after a two-legged game against Halkbank Ankara. The 2025/26 season is still ongoing and there are still many challenges on the horizon for the Warsaw volleyball players. So far, it looks really promising. And the competition should be wondering how to find a way to make a well-functioning machine.

It doesn’t seem that she – on her own – has any intention of slowing down.