Playoff preview of Heungkuk Life Insurance and Jeonggwanjang starting on the 22nd
After the match between IBK Industrial Bank of Korea Altos and Jeonggwan-jang Red Sparks on the 17th, all regular season schedules of Dodram 2023-2024 V-League were closed. Hyundai E&C Hillstate enjoyed the joy of going straight to the Champions League, winning the regular league title for the first time in 13 years since the 2010-2011 season, when it won its first integrated championship. On the other hand, the youngest club, Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers, failed to escape the bottom for three consecutive seasons since its foundation with humiliating 23 consecutive losses, the most in the history of the women's team in the V-League.스포츠토토
Heungkuk Life's Pink Spiders, which competed fiercely with Hyundai Engineering & Construction until the end of the season, unfortunately missed the direct match against the Champions League due to a lack of one point even though they recorded the highest winning rate (.778) in the league with 28 wins and eight losses. Jeong Kwan-jang, who failed to play volleyball in the spring for six consecutive seasons since the 2016-2017 season, not only ranked third in the regular league, but also went straight to the playoffs without a semi-playoff, widening the point gap with fourth-place GS Caltex KIXX to 10 points.
79-61. As the difference in 18 regular league points suggests, many volleyball fans are predicting Heungkuk Life's dominance in the playoffs between Heungkuk Life Insurance and Jeonggwanjang, which will begin on the 22nd. In particular, the fact that Jeonggwanjang's captain, Lee So-young, suffered an ankle injury at the end of the season and is uncertain about his participation in the playoffs is another reason to predict Heungkuk Life's superiority. However, Jeonggwanjang, who has the league's best twin guns consisting of Giovanna Milana and Megawatti Putty, also has no intention of easily stepping down from the spring volleyball stage in seven years.
[Heungkuk Life Insurance] He'll recover the trophy he missed last season
After the end of last season, Heungkuk Life succeeded in keeping Kim Yeon-koung, who is more than half of the team's strength, at the highest annual salary of 775 million won. In addition, by recruiting Kim Yeon-koung's best friend and former national middle blocker Kim Soo-ji, it strengthened the center, which was considered relatively weak. Many volleyball fans predicted that this season is the right time for Heungkuk Life to lift the trophy, which was unfortunately missed last season when it was "reverse swept" by the Korea Expressway Corporation Hi-pass.
However, Heungkuk Life Insurance, which had been in the lead at the beginning of the season, faltered due to the slump of foreign player Yelena Mrazenovic from the third round, and lost the lead to Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which had won nine consecutive games. Heungkuk Life Insurance replaced foreign players with Willow Johnson after the first half after much thought. And around the same time, Heungkuk Life naturally completed a triangle formation leading to Kim Yeon-kyung, Willow, and Raina in the Asian quarter as Reyna Tokoku's condition revived.
Heungkuk Life Insurance, which recaptured the lead with a steep rise to win in the fifth round, lost its regular league title to Hyundai Engineering & Construction in the sixth round as it was caught by Jeong Kwan-jang and Pepper Savings Bank. Considering that the difference between the two teams was only one point, it was very regrettable to lose 1-3 to the lowest Pepper Savings Bank on the 8th. Heungkuk Life Insurance, which became second in the regular league as a result, can only meet Hyundai Engineering & Construction if it passes the playoffs.
Heungkuk Life Insurance, which is ahead of all clubs in their matches this season, is also leading the league with four wins and two losses. However, it was regrettable that it lost 1-3 in the sixth round of showdowns, which was important after recording four consecutive wins after losing the first round. Of course, the uncertainty of Lee So-young's participation in the Jeonggwanjang will be a positive factor for Heungkuk Life, but Heungkuk Life is also worried about whether it will be able to play in the playoffs in its best condition as its main setter Lee Won-jung missed two games due to an injury at the end of the season.
Heungkuk Life's last championship title should be traced back to the 2018-2019 season when Lee Jae-young and Berenica Tomsia played well. Heungkuk Life reached the championship twice after Kim Yeon-koung's return, but remained in second place after being blocked by GS Caltex and Korea Expressway Corporation, respectively. Therefore, Heungkuk Life's aspiration to win the championship this season is stronger than ever. Will Heungkuk Life be able to join the championship for two consecutive seasons beyond the gateway to Jeonggwanjang.
[Director Jeong] "Captain" who collapsed due to injury ahead of PO
When Jeong Kwan-jang selected Indonesian Apogit Spiker Mega for the Asian quarter in April, it seemed to be only a unique experiment of Jeong Kwan-jang, who remained at the bottom for six consecutive seasons. In fact, Indonesia was a periphery of Asian volleyball that Korea had rarely met in international competitions. However, it did not take long for Mega, who played in a hijab and provided new attractions to volleyball fans, to capture them with his skills.
Jeong Kwan-jang won a volleyball ticket in the spring for the first time in seven years since the 2016-2017 season when Alena Bergma was active, ranking third in the regular league with 20 wins and 16 losses after the twin guns composed of Mega and Jia collaborated to score 1426 points in the regular league. With foreigners leading the attack, setter Yeom Hye-sun led the team with seasoned game management, while middle blockers Jung Ho-young and Park Eun-jin also ranked third (0.65 per set) and seventh (0.53 per set), respectively, in the blocking category.
However, the secret to the fact that Jeong Kwan-jang, who had been in the middle range until the third round, was able to take a steep rise from the fourth round was the return and performance of "captain" Lee So-young, who focused on rehabilitation after shoulder surgery. Lee returned to the court in the second round and played a full-fledged starting role from the fourth round, and not only scored 215 points with 37.95% success rate in 26 games this season, but also contributed tremendously to defense with 43.8% receiving efficiency.
However, Lee So-young, who is the core of Jeonggwanjang's offense and defense, will not be able to play in the playoffs against Heungkuk Life Insurance starting on the 22nd. He was diagnosed with a ruptured ligament after suffering a broken ankle in the game against GS Caltex on the 7th. He needs at least four weeks for rehabilitation, so it is not easy to return to volleyball this spring. Even if he pushes ahead with his participation by force, it remains to be seen whether Lee, who has long-term offense using his jumping and physical strength, will be able to display his normal skills.
After all, chances are high that Park Hye-min, who played as a starting member in lieu of Lee in the beginning of the season, will fill Lee's place in the playoffs as well. As for Jeong, he hopes that Park will fill Lee's absence in defense. Of course, it can be said that Jeong had a successful spring volleyball tournament in seven years. However, no player would be complacent about losing to Heungkuk Life Insurance under the excuse of his captain's injury with the championship game just around the corner.