The captain of the Bulgarian national volleyball team Alex Grozdanov started the new season in the Polish Plus League in the best possible way. The Bulgarian central blocker was chosen as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the expressive success of his Bogdanka LUK Lublin with 3:0 (25:23, 25:22, 25:21) as a guest against the three-time European champion ZAKSA Kędrzejny-Kozle. The first round match was played in front of nearly 3,500 spectators in the stands.
The Bulgarian giant played an extremely stable match and was the basis for the first triumph for his team this campaign. Grozdanov finished the match with 11 points, and with his excellent blocking and attacking play, he gave a serious boost to the runners-up from the previous championship.
The most productive player for the winners from Lublin was the Japanese receiver Ran Takahashi, who scored 15 points for the victory. Rafal Shimura performed best from the home team from Kendrzejzyn-Kożle, who scored 14 points, but this was not enough to save ZAXA from a clear defeat at home.