The Copernican Tournament for the NCU Rector's Cup took place in Toruń on 8-10 March 2019. During the tournament five teams of both women and men competed. Four teams played in the masters tournament. For the first time in almost 50-year long history of the tournament, the prize for the best player, the so-called MVP, was awarded. The patron of the award is Henryk Jurkiewicz - initiator of the first edition of the Tournament, launched in 1969.
The team of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń triumphed in the women’s competition. The host team, led by coach Joanna Kaczmarek, collected 11 points, losing only one set in a match against the University of Gdańsk.
The final standings of the women's tournament:
- Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń – 11. points,
- University of Warsaw – 7. points,
- Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań – 6. points,
- Catholic University of Lublin – 4. points,
- University of Gdańsk – 2. points.
Men’s team from Toruń, led by coach Michał Tyburski, reached the finals. The NCU team and volleyball players of the University of Warsaw scored 8 points each. Unfortunately, players from Warsaw beat the hosts by one point, and won the tournament.
The final standings of the men's tournament:
- University of Warsaw – 8. points,
- Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń – 8. points,
- University of Gdańsk – 7. points,
- Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań – 6. points,
- Catholic University of Lublin – 1. point
A very important element of the event was the award of the best female and male player. Henryk Jurkiewicz - a long-time employee of the NCU Centre of Physical Education and Sports and the most successful men’s volleyball coach of our University is the patron of the awards. It was under his leadership in 1976 that the NCU team won the Polish Universities Championships (today's equivalent of the Academic Championships of Poland). Henryk Jurkiewicz is a distinguished activist of the University Sports Association NCU AZS., and held the position of vice president for student sports in the 1970s.
Barbara Sokolińska, a student of the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, participant of the Dual Career Program, and the captain of the Budowlani Team received the award for the best female player, whereas Damian Zemło the aumnus of the University of Sports Education in Warsaw, student of the Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management and assistant to the head coach of the Budowlani Team was awarded the best player.
Traditionally, the best players from the university teams were also honored:
- Catholic University of Lublin – Kamila Kłeczek and Matija Colombo,
- Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań – Weronika Antczak and Radosław Szczeciński,
- University of Gdańsk – Żaklina Sulikowska and Maciej Mozol,
- Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń – Julita Rafałko and Marcin Mastulis.
- Uniwersytet Warszawski – Magdalena Dykałowicz and Jakub Pastuszka.
There was also a masters tournament in the sports hall at Gagarina, which is named after Krzysztof Petrowski in 2019- a long-time player of the NCU AZS and a volleyball referee associated with Toruń volleyball, who passed away last year. Teams of the alumni from Gdańsk, Poznań, Lublin and Toruń participated in the tournament.
Final classification:
- Lublin
- Gdańsk
- Poznań
- Toruń