The men’s professional volleyball team Woori Card defeated defending champion Korean Air to regain the lead in the standings.
Woori Card swept their Dodram 2023-2024 V-League Men’s match against Korean Air on Tuesday at Incheon Gyeyang Gymnasium with a set score of 3-0 (25-19 25-23 26-24). With 25 points (9-3), Woori Card moved ahead of 온라인카지노 Korean Air (25-8-4) in the standings and into first place in the league.
The mood was not good for Woori Card heading into this game. They had lost their previous two matches to Samsung Fire and OK Financial Group without taking a single set. Before the match, Woori Card head coach Shin Young-cheol said, “The mood of the team is heavy. I told them to play confidently with a good rhythm.” Korean Air, on the other hand, was coming off shutout wins over OK Financial Group and Hyundai Capital.
Woori Card was down to Korean Air midway through the first set before turning things around on the service of ‘teenage setter’ Han Tae-joon. Taking serve at 17-19, Han shook up Korean Air’s reception with a serve that, while not powerful, fell just short of the empty court. Woori Card then turned the tide with a block by Korean Air’s Bum Sil and Kim Ji-han, scoring a whopping eight points in a row to close out the first set. Kim Ji-han, who has emerged as Woori Card’s “ace” this season, led the team’s offense with nine points in the first set alone.
It was Woori Card who came out on top in the closely contested second set. Matei Kok’s offense came alive after scoring just three points in the first set. With match point at 23-22, Matej made an open attack, but immediately committed a service error, and then sealed the set with a back-attack over his opponent’s block.
URICARD closed out the match with a late comeback in the third set. At 22-23, Kim Young-jun’s persistent digs gave URICAD a chance to attack, but Matei’s open attack tied the score before Jung Sung-kyu’s service ace broke the deadlock. A service error made it 24-24 deuce, but Woori Card sealed the victory with an opener from Matei and a trailing attacker’s error from Korean Air’s Lim Dong-hyuk.
Matei (18 points) and Kim Ji-han (17 points) combined for 35 points, while setter Han Tae-joon spearheaded the team’s offense with his fearless play in front of opposing veteran setters Han and Yoo Kwang-woo. Korean Air was led by wing attacker Lim Dong-hyuk with 17 points. Korean Air has faced Woori Card twice this season, losing both times.
In the women’s competition, Hyundai E&C came from behind to win the set 3-1 (23-25 25-20 25-22 25-21) against Korea Expressway Corporation behind a 32-point performance from Moma Basoko. With its fourth straight win, Hyundai E&C improved to 8-4 and 26 points, closing in on leader Heungkuk Life (10-1, 28 points). Roadworks (3-9, 12 points), which lost its third straight game, failed to escape the bottom half of the table in sixth place.