The South Korean women’s volleyball team (ranked 36th in the world) fell short in a thrilling full-set match against powerhouse Germany (ranked 12th).Led by head coach Cesar Hernández González, Korea lost to Germany by a set score of 2-3 (13-25 21-25 25-23 25-22 7-15) in the third match of Group C of the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifiers in Łódź, Poland, on Monday (June 19).After falling behind 0-2 in the set score, Korea managed to turn the match around with a solid defense, but were overpowered by Germany in the final five sets .South Korea, which had lost its previous matches against Italy (0-3) and Poland (1-3), suffered its third straight defeat against Germany on Sunday, but earned its first point of the tournament by taking the match to a full set. South Korea, which is in Pool C with Italy, Poland, Germany, the United States, Colombia, Thailand and Slovenia, must finish in the top two of the eight teams to qualify for the Paris Olympics .With four games remaining against the United States (9:30 p.m., Aug. 20), Colombia (6:30 p.m., Aug. 22), Thailand (9:30 p.m., Aug. 23) and Slovenia (6:30 p.m., Aug. 24), South Korea has a realistic chance of finishing second. Our next opponent, the United States, is a world-class powerhouse at No. 3, and Colombia (No. 22), Thailand (No. 14), and Slovenia (No. 28) are all ranked higher than us. However, against Germany, the Koreans refused to give up until the very end, giving us a glimmer of hope in the middle of a long tunnel of generational change. On the day, Korea recovered from a 0-2 deficit in the third set, 23-23, thanks to a hard hit by Lee Han-bi (Pepper Savings Bank) and a direct kill by Lee Da-hyun (Hyundai E&C) on a floating serve by Park Eun-jin (KGC Ginseng Corporation – soon to be renamed Jung Kwan-jang).In the fourth set, Kang So-hwi (GS Caltex) turned the match around, but the team was unable to overcome the mistake in the fifth set and fell to their knees .Kang So-hwi led the way with a team-high 18 points, while Lee Han-bi chipped in with 15 points. 스포츠토토존 South Korea was out-blocked 7-15, but held a 7-5 advantage in service points.