Will a magician in PlusLiga bring magic to the season? A hit showdown in a unique city

The new season of PlusLiga volleyball has just started. In the first match of the 2025/26 campaign, Energa Trefl Gdańsk turned out to be better than Barkom Każany Lviv. The hosts’ victory was ultimately decided by a tie-break, although the Ukrainian team was already leading 1-0 and 2-1 in sets. Energa Trefl receiver Tobias Brand was chosen MVP. The match was attended by, among others: the president of the Polish Volleyball Association, Sebastian Świderski, and the coach of the Polish national team, Nikola Grbić.

PlusLiga: Hit in Częstochowa. Will Luciano De Cecco beat the Polish champion?

Looking at the schedule of games in the 1st round of PlusLiga, two matches promise to be particularly interesting. The match ZAKSA Kędzierzyn-Koźle – Aluron CMC Warta Zawiercie was postponed to October 29. Earlier, the second of the hits of the inaugural series of games will take place – Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Częstochowa will host the Polish champions, Bogdanka LUK Lublin.

There is no need to convince anyone about the class of the best team of the previous season and the winner of the Challenge Cup. The team will be led by a new coach, well known in Poland. Stephane Antiga, a French specialist in big results, returns to PlusLiga. The best example? Gold medal at the 2014 World Cup as a coach of the Polish national team. Moreover, in the previous campaign (i.e. 2024/25) he won gold in the Tauron Liga, proving that he can also win the championship title in Rzeszów. Only this time in a women’s edition, after many years of waiting.

On the guests’ side from Lublin, you will certainly see such figures as the representative trio: quarterback Marcin Komenda, attacker Kewin Sasak and receiver Wilfredo Leon. The latter may not be ready to play from cover to cover yet, after all, he joined the team the latest of all, after exhausting playing at the 2025 World Cup. Bogdanka LUK will be the favorite in Wednesday’s clash.

However, Luciano De Cecco can enchant you at Jasna Góra. The loudest name on the profit side, looking at transfers to PlusLiga before the start of the 2025/26 campaign. The Argentine is a virtuoso among playmakers, loved all over the world, and an individual who is impossible not to like. Who knows, maybe De Cecco will be a hit, considering the personnel moves made by the club from Częstochowa. It is no coincidence that the president of Norwid is Łukasz Żygadło, a former great quarterback, among others. former Polish representative. Last season, “Ziomek” returned to the pitch out of necessity, when the Częstochowa team suffered from a lack of healthy playmakers. And it must be admitted that Żygadło, still as a sports director back then, as an active player, showed his good side.

Why is it worth looking at De Cecco? It seems that this is a volleyball player who has seen practically everything in world volleyball. Having played for many years in Italy and in the past also in Russia, now it’s time for a big challenge in Poland. The club from Częstochowa was – next to Bogdanka LUK – a big surprise in the competition. Ultimately, it ended in the play-off phase, where the Częstochowa team failed to eliminate the then Polish champions from Jastrzębie-Zdrój. Now, however, the bar will be set high, considering the volleyball mood – especially in such a special city for this sport – which is undoubtedly Częstochowa.

The match between Steam Hemarpol Politechnika Częstochowa and Bogdanka LUK Lublin will take place next Wednesday (October 22) at 8:30 p.m. The clash will be shown on Polsat Sport 1 and online, among others. via the Polsat Box Go platform.