Hyundai E&C regains ‘lead’ in two days…Yang Hyo-jin blocking ‘shin-gong’
Hyundai E&C’s Yang Hyo-jin led the women’s professional volleyball team to its first win in two days with a blocking and slamming performance against IBK. Moma Basoko Leticia (registered name Moma – 41 points) and Yang Hyo-jin (24 points) accounted for 77.4 percent of the team’s 84 points.
Hyundai E&C came from behind to win the Dodram 2023-24 V-League Round 5 match against IBK IBK in straight sets, 3-2 (21-25 25-22 19-25 25-16 15-8), at Suwon Indoor Gymnasium on Nov. 22.
With the win, Hyundai E&C secured 69 points (23-7) and regained the lead in the standings after losing to Heungkuk Life (67-24, 6-6) on the 20th. Hyundai E&C and Heungkuk Life will now compete for the top spot in the final six rounds of the championship for a direct ticket to the championship match.
After missing out on the big fish, KEB Hana Corp. chased down fourth-place GS Caltex (46-16-14) with 44 points. Brittany Abercrombie (registered name Abercrombie – 35 points), Hwang Min-kyung (15 points), and Kim Hee-jin (10 points) were unable to prevent the loss.
The game was split in terms of turnovers. Hyundai E&C had 15, while Corporate Bank had 21. The lapse in concentration on the part of IBK led to minor unforced errors late in the game that gave the game away. Hyundai E&C had 18 blocks, including eight from Yang Hyo-jin, compared to 14 for IBK.
After reaching the 20-point mark in the first set, Hyundai E&C allowed a hard hit by Abercrombie and two consecutive blocks by Pyo Seung-ju to quickly tie the score at 20-20. Moma’s follow-up attack tied the score, but two more kills by Abercrombie, an error, and blocks by Hwang Min-kyung and Kim Hee-jin gave HMC the first set.
In the second set, after reaching the 20-point mark through Moma’s back-row attack, HMC allowed a point through Hwang Min-kyung’s hard hit, but Lee Da-hyun’s fast attack and Yang Hyo-jin’s blocking helped them escape. After reaching set point when Choi Jeong-min’s hit went out of bounds, HMC evened the set score when Pyo Seung-ju’s hit was blocked by Yang Hyo-jin.
In the third set, HMC took the lead thanks to blocking from Yang Hyo-jin and open attacks from Moma, but lost focus towards the middle of the set. Down 14-14, HMC lost 토토 the will to fight back after Abercrombie’s blocking and hard hitting gave them two points.
In the fourth set, HMC had a bit more luck. HCE raced to an 11-7 lead early in the set, taking advantage of a series of setbacks, including the loss of opposite hitter Choi Jung-min to injury and IBK head coach Kim Ho-cheol protesting a VAR call for an in-out. After that, IBK didn’t show the same undercutting focus it had in the first and second sets.
With a 2-0 lead in the fifth set, which was tied at one point apiece, Hyundai E&C head coach Kang Sung-hyung called game time. Hyo Jin Yang’s hard hitting balanced out Moma’s attack. However, MOMA’s offensive power was not dampened at all, and the team took a 9-5 lead. Hyo-jin Yang’s hard hitting made it 14-7, and then Moma’s hard hitting landed on the court of IBK.
In the men’s division at Uijeongbu Gymnasium, Woori Card, led by new foreign player Artem Susheko (real name Artem), swept last-place KB Insurance 3-0 (25-14 25-18 25-20) in straight sets.
With the victory, Woori Card regained the top spot in the standings with 59 points (20 W, 10 L), overtaking Korean Air (58-19 W, 11 L). KB Insurance suffered its eighth straight loss.