Press release

Doha, Qatar, October 13 - Jastrzebski Wegiel rallied from a 2-1 set deficit and 9-6 down in the fifth set to win a thrilling five-set match over Sesi Sao Paulo with scores of 25-23, 18-25, 19-25, 25-13, 15-13 on Thursday evening to advance to the FIVB Men’s Club World Championship gold-medal match on Friday in Doha, Qatar.

Jastrzebski Wegiel will play the winner of the other semifinal match between Trentino Diatec Trento and Zenit Kazan for the title at 7 p.m. Friday, while the bronze medal match of Sesi Sao Paulo and the other semifinal loser will be played Friday at 3 p.m.

Wallace Martins paced Sesi Sao Paulo with 25 points, while Murilo Endres added 17 points. Michal Lasko led Jastrzebski Wegiel with 23 points, followed by 18 points from Zbigniew Bartman and 16 points by Russell Holmes.

Jastrzebski Wegiel held a 14-9 block advantage in the match.

For additional information on the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship, click here. For more informaton on the FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship, click here. For Daily Bulletins for the tournament, click here.

Sesi Sao Paulo opened with a 2-0 lead in the first set with a Leonardo Cruz Miranda spike and Jastrzebski Wegiel block. However, Jastrzebski scored the next four points with a Kubiak attack and block, Johannes Bontje block and attack. Sesi Sao Paulo went in front 6-5, but Russell Holmes put Jastrzebski Wegiel back in front 7-6 with a block. Sesi Sao Paulo reached the second technical timeout leading 16-15 as the lead alternating twice.  Jastrzebski Wegiel in front 18-17 on a Lasko spike. Holmes powered down an overpass from the serve to increase Jastrzebski Wegiel’s advantage to 21-19. Jastrzebski Wegiel end the set with a Bontje attack at 25-23. Lasko and Holmes each scored five points for Jastrzebski Wegiel in the opening set. Jastrzebski Wegiel converted 63 percent of their attacks in the opening set and held a 3-0 block advantage.

Sesi Sao Paulo started the second set with a 3-1 lead with the aid an attack error. Martins Wallace served an ace and Murilo  Endres attacked for a point to extend the Sesi Sao Paulo margin to 7-3. Jastrzebski Wegiel cut the lead to 9-7 after a Holmes ace. Sesi Sao Paulo regained their four-point edge at 12-8 after an attack error caused by a faulty reception, then extended the gap to 14-9 following another Jastrzebski Wegiel attack error. Sidnei dos Santos Junior provided a block at 17-11 for Sesi Sao Paulo. Santos Junior picked up a block to yield set points at 24-17, then won the set 25-18 on a service error. Martins scored eight points for Sesi Sao Paulo in the second set. Sesi Sao Paulo converted 17 of 24 attacks without an error in the second set.

Jastrzebski Wegiel gained a 2-0 start to the third set following a block by Holmes, then jumped the lead to 4-1 after a Sao Paulo attack into the net. However, a Jastrzebski attack error chipped away at their to 4-3. Sesi Sao Paulo went in front 6-5, benefiting from a Jastrzebski attack error. Sesi Sao Paulo reached the first technical timeout leading 8-6, then extended the lead to 10-7 on a block by Sandro Barbalho. Jastrzebski cut two points off the deficit after a Holmes block at 10-9. Murilo put Sesi Sao Paulo back in front by three at 12-9 on a cross-court winner. Out of a Jastrzebski timeout, Murilo added to the lead with a winner and Jastrzebski hit into the antenna for a 14-9 advantage. Jastrzebski narrowed the gap to 14-11 on a Sesi Sao Paulo attack error, only to have Sesi go into the technical timeout leading again by five on a Murilo block. Sesi Sao Paulo extended the lead to 19-13 on a Rodrigao ace. Zbigniew Bartman connected for an attack and Holmes put up a block at 21-18 to reduce Jastrzebski’s deficit to three. Sesi Sao Paulo finished the third set at 25-19 on an attack error.

Jastrzebski Wegiel led 3-1 early in the fourth set. Holmes put up a block and Lasko downed an attack at 10-6 after the technical timeout. Cruz Miranda blocked an attack to reduce the margin to 10-8. Jastrzebski Wegiel answered with four quick points including two Lasko blocks and another block by Bartman for a 14-8 advantage. Out of a timeout, Bartman added a fourth straight block and fifth point for a 15-8 advantage. Kubiak gave Jastrzebski a 17-9 lead on a nifty backwards setting motion for an attack point. Jastrzebski Wegiel increased their lead to 20-10 on a Holmes ace and Bartman attack from the back row. Bartosz Gawrszewski netted a block to increase the lead to 21-10. Jastrzebski ended the set with a 25-13 victory.

Sesi started the fifth set with a Rodrigao block. Wallace increased the Sesi lead to 5-3 on a power attack. Lasko downed an attack and Kubiak put up a block to tie the score at 5-all after a Jastrzebski timeout. Sesi Sao Paulo reached the court switch leading 8-6 following a Jastrzebski Wegiel attack error. Sesi Sao Paulo increased their advantage to 9-6 on a second straight Jastrzebski miscue. Lasko ended a lengthy rally with an attack to slice the deficit to a single point at 9-8. A bad reception led to a setter fault to knot the score at 9-all following a Sesi timeout. Jastrzebski went into the lead at 13-12 on consecutive attacks by Holmes and Bartman. Jastrzebski Wegiel reached set and match point leading 14-13 on a Sesi Sao Paulo service error. Lasko ended the set with an attack off the block at 15-13.