Women’s professional volleyball Heungkuk Life ended the first round on a high note.
The team defeated IBK Sangsan Bank 3-1 (26-24 15-25 25-19 28-26) in straight sets in their home match of the Pro Volleyball Dodram 2023-2024 V League Women’s Division at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Thursday.
With the win, Heungkuk Life ended the first round of the regular season with a 5-1 record and took sole possession of first place (15 points).
IBK (5-2, 4-1) saw its two-game winning streak snapped by Heungkuk Life after losing its opening three games in a row.
In the third set, which was tied at one set apiece, Heungkuk Life took the lead with sharp serving.
Heungkuk Life jumped out to a 3-0 lead in service points, while IBK did not manage a single accurate reception.
Heungkuk Life extended its lead to 14-12 with a diagonal attack and a service ace from Kim Mi-yeon, and after giving up a point, went up 19-13 with two unforced errors and a back attack from Yelena Mrazenovic (registered name Yelena).
Kim saved set point with a service ace that landed in the center of the court. Then, when the reception faltered on her opponent’s serve, setter Lee Won-jung pretended to receive the ball and let it go over the net for an easy point.
Trailing 16-21 in the fourth set, Heungkuk Life came from behind to secure the win.
A staggered attack by Kim Yeon-kyung, a service ace by Park Eun-seo, and an open and blocked point by Reina Tokoku (registered name Reina) brought the score to 20-21.
Kim Yeon-kyung tied the match at 21-21 with an exquisite spike into the opposite corner of the court.
At 24-23, IBK conceded a deuce after a service error by Ponpun Gedpard (real name Ponpun).
With the score tied at one, a diagonal slam from Kim Yeon-kyung scored a point and a quick open from Brittany Abercrombie (registered name Abercrombie) couldn’t find the net to end the game.
Yelena and Kim finished with 19 and 17 points, respectively, while Kim Mi-yeon and Reina contributed 11 and 9 points.
For IBK, Abe Crombie and Pyo Seung-ju combined for 20 points, but were unable to prevent their team from losing.
In the men’s match at Yoo Yoo-soon Gymnasium in Cheonan, Hyundai Capital defeated KB Insurance in straight sets, 3-0 (26-24 25-20 25-23).
Hyundai Capital, which had dropped its first five matches, including the opener, to fall to the bottom of the standings (seventh place), gained three points to move up to fifth place with a total of five points (1-5), ahead of KB Insurance (4-1-5) and KEPCO (3-1-4).
In the V-League, teams earn three points for a 3-0 or 3-1 set win, two points for a 3-2 win, and one point for a 2-3 loss.
Hyundai Capital, which had earned just two points in its previous five games with two 2-3 losses, broke through with its first win of the season.
KB Insurance, on the other hand, suffered their fifth straight loss after winning their first game of the season.
On the day, Hyundai Capital was led by wingers Ahmed Iqbairi (19 points – registered name Ahmed) and Heo Su-bong (14 points) on the flanks, while Park Sang-ha and Choi Min-ho (8 points each) played in the center.
KB Insurance relied heavily on the wing attacks of Andres Villena (21 points) and Hwang Kyung-min (18 points).
With a more diverse offense, Hyundai Capital also outscored KB Insurance 9-3 in blocked shots.
The deciding game was the first set.
Hyundai Capital earned the first set point at 23-23 when their main hitter Bjorna made a backward attack error.
However, Ahmed stepped on the attack line while attempting a backhanded attack, giving them a 24-24 deuce.
Ahmed recovered with a flying back attack.
At 25-24, Hwang Kyung-min’s quick opener was blocked by Park Sang-ha, giving Hyundai Capital the first set.
After easily taking the second set, Hyundai Capital took the third set in a similar fashion to the first set deuce.
Ahmed came from behind at 23-23.
At 24-23, Park Sang-ha intercepted a Korean’s fastball to end the game. 슬롯