Luxembourg, April 14, 2021. Grupa Azoty Zaksa KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE are only the third Polish club to compete in the final of the CEV Champions League Volley – Men and have a chance to become the first gold medalists from this country. Their opposite Łukasz Kaczmarek has significant merits in this remarkable and successful campaign that will be resumed on May 1^st. The 26-year-old enjoys one of the best seasons in his career, only one year after serious health problems that ended his previous season prematurely. Having huge motivation to banish memories of the lost season, he has impressed with solid performance from the very beginning of the 2020/2021 season. Now, Kaczmarek whose nickname is ‘Zwierz’ – that can be translated as ‘the Beast’ – gets ready with his teammates for the highly-anticipated CEV Champions League Volley 2021 - Super Finals in Verona, where they will face Trentino Itas in the decisive battle for the most prestigious trophy in Europe’s club competition.

It's not only his strength, but also technical skills that have filled Volleyball fans and experts with awe. Kaczmarek, so far, has 144 points to his name being the third on the top scorer's chart – behind his teammate Kamil Semeniuk and Trentino's Nimir Abdel-Aziz. With as many as 120 winning spikes and 53.81% of success in this skill he is also ranked as the third spiker. His stats include also 13 block stuffs and 11 aces. The 204-cm-tall opposite together with Kędzierzyn-Koźle’s setter Benjamin Toniutti make a perfect duo providing fans stunning plays. Kaczmarek has impressed with his consistency and ability to serve perfectly in crucial moments, like in the Golden Set against Lube when his ace closed the dramatic battle against the reigning champions and gave Grupa Azoty Zaksa KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE a ticket to the semi-finals.

Many could notice his absence in the last edition of the Champions League. In autumn 2019 his further career was put in question as he was diagnosed with myocarditis [an inflammation of the heart muscle] that eventually and luckily caused only two months of break from the sport. Shortly after his return to the court he suffered a serious foot injury – a fracture in metatarsal bone that completely ended his season, long before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

What's interesting, this key player of Grupa Azoty Zaksa KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE didn't start his career in indoor Volleyball, but in Beach Volleyball! That experience visibly diversifies and expands his range of plays. The 2011 U19 World and U18 European champion joined the indoor Volleyball club Victoria Wałbrzych in 2013, winning with them the 2014/15 Krispol I Liga [second highest league in Poland]. It was his ticket to a more prominent team - Cuprum Lubin, where he played under the guidance of Gheorghe Cretu. Due to injuries of nominal opposites, Kaczmarek who used to play as an outside hitter accepted the challenge and switched his position to opposite and that turned out to be a very rewarding decision.

In 2018 he signed a contract with Kędzierzyn Koźle starting his success story with the team. Kaczmarek was named the Best Opposite of the Polish Cup in 2019 and MVP of the Polish SuperCup. In the meantime, with the Polish national team he earned a bronze medal of the 2019 Volleyball Nations League and silver at the 2019 World Cup in Japan. He will soon add a Champions League’s medal to his collection – on May 1^st it will be decided if it’s going to be gold or silver. First, however, he and Grupa Azoty Zaksa KĘDZIERZYN KOŹLE start the decisive battle for the national title, as tonight (April 14^th) the first final game with JASTRZEBSKI Wegiel in PlusLiga is played.