As expected before the start, Heungkuk Life ended the first round on top.
Heungkuk Life won the first round of the Dodram 2023-24 V-League Women’s Division 3-1 (26-24 15-25 25-19 28-26) against IBK Business Bank at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Thursday.
Yelena “Ssangpo” Kim (19 points) and Kim Yeon-kyung (17 points) shined on this day. With the help of Kim Mi-yeon (11 points) and Reina (9 points), Heungkuk Life avoided a full set and took the third point.
It was not an easy match. After winning the first set in deuce, Heungkuk Life dropped the second set. After taking the third set to take a 2-1 lead in the set, Heungkuk Life was down 16-21 in the fourth set. It looked like it would be difficult to overturn, but Kim Yeon-kyung attacked and Reina blocked to bring the score to 20-21. In the tiebreaker, Kim tied the score at 21-21 with a spike that landed at the end of the court.
With the score tied at 24-24 and the match going back to deuce, Heungkuk Life took the lead when Kim Yeon-kyung’s attack succeeded and IBK’s Abe Crombie’s attack failed.
With the exception of Jung Kwan-jang, who suffered a 2-3 setback after taking a 2-0 lead, Heungkuk Life finished the first round with a 5-1 record (15 points) after defeating Hyundai E&C and GS Caltex in the first round.
IBK, which lost three straight games in the opening round, won two in a row by defeating Roadworks and Pepper Savings Bank, but its winning streak came to 토토 an end in front of the ‘No. 1’ Heungkuk Life. Failing to add to its points tally, IBK ended the first round in fifth place with a 2-4 record (5 points). Kim Hee-jin, who made her comeback after knee surgery, made a brief appearance as a mid-match substitute.