Woori Card, the leader of men’s professional volleyball, started the second half in a good mood by escaping five consecutive losses.
Woori Card came from behind to win a set score of 3-1 (25-27 25-22 25-22 25-14) at a home game against Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in the 2023-2024 V-League at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul on Jan. 31.
Woori Card, which lost five consecutive games before the All-Star Game break and was in danger of losing its lead, won three valuable points, widening its gap with second-place Korean Air (44 points, 14 wins and 11 losses) with a total of 47 points (16 wins and 9 losses).
Woori Card… “Managed volleyball.” It shone
The two teams had a close deuce match from the first set. Woori Card took the lead by banking on Kim Ji-han’s attack, but Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance shook its opponent’s receiving base with a strong serve to catch up. Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance also won the first set with consecutive serve aces of Yosbani Hernandez (registered name Yosbani) in the 25-25 deuce.
Woori Card, which has a relatively weak serve, fought back with a fast attack. As the attack routes diversified, the game was easy to play.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, on the other hand, had seven errors in the second set alone. Woori Card, which had been outreaching Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s persistent pursuit, took the second set by hitting an open attack after Itsei Otake (registered name Itsei) made a set point by blocking at 23-21.
The set score was tied at 1-1, but the atmosphere came to Woori Card. Park Jin-woo caught a block in the middle of the set.
In the last 19-19 of the set, Park Jin-woo’s fast attack broke out, and Woori Card, which scored points for each match, won the third set, with Kim Young-joon kicking Yosbani’s open attack into defense and Mattei Kok (registered name Mattei) succeeding in the open attack.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which suffered a reversal, committed four errors in a row from the start of the fourth set. Leading 4-0, Woori Card widened the gap rapidly and secured the fourth set by 11 points to finish the game.
A break like a rain… Woori Card leads the race, “reboot.”
Woori Card, which had been leading the men’s league this season, saw its performance drop sharply in the fourth round and lost five consecutive games. As second-ranked Korean Air and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance chased after the team, the team’s competition for the championship also plunged into fog.
For Woori Card, which was on shaky ground, the All-Star Game break was like a rainy season. Woori Card, which reorganized its battle lines, succeeded in turning the mood around by winning a thrilling come-from-behind victory in the first game of the second half. This is why the victory on the day is worth more than one win.
In particular, Kim Ji-han, the “Native Ace,” stood out. He scored 27 points, the most in the team, and above all, the attack success rate reached 70.97%.
The teamwork that coach Shin Young-chul was emphasizing has also been revived. Woori Card had only 14 errors. Compared to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance’s collapse by committing nearly twice as many as 27 errors, the team displayed very stable performance.
Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance was disappointed that Yosbani scored the most 33 points in both teams, but he made 10 errors by himself and the success rate of the attack was 46.67%.
Attention is focusing on whether Woori Card, who returned after taking a breath during the break, will regain its early season power and approach its historic first victory, or whether the championship competition, which is hard to predict until the end, will unfold again.