Korea Women’s Volleyball suffered another shutout loss in Japan.
The South Korea Women’s National Volleyball Team (ranked 38th in the world), coached by Fernando Morales, fell to Japan (ranked 6th in the world) 0-3 (16-25, 16-25, 23-25) in straight sets in the first match of the FIVB Volleyball Nations League 2024 (VNL) Week 3 at 스포츠토토 Marine Messe Fukuoka, Japan on Wednesday.

The difference in power was too much. Korea was unable to cope with Japan’s fast and diverse attacking routes. The third set was close, but they never reached the 20-point mark in the first and second sets. The offense of Jung Jung-yoon (Hyundai E&C), who had a team-high 17 points, was not enough.
The team, which had defeated Thailand (3-1) in the fourth match of Week 1 to end a 30-match losing streak, lost five straight matches, including the loss to Japan. They are now 1-8-1 (4 points) in the tournament, 14th out of 16 nations. The slumping team failed to qualify for the final round, which features the top seven qualifiers and host Thailand.
After a 3-2 victory in the fourth round of the women’s volleyball group stage at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the Korean women’s volleyball team, led by the likes of Kim Yeon-kyung and Yang Hyo-jin, suffered a three-game shutout loss to Japan. “We miss Kim Yeon-kyung (who has retired from the national team),” sighed volleyball fans.
Japan’s 7-2 win over South Korea (21 points) moves them up to fourth place, booking a spot in the Final Round for the second time in as many years and moving closer to punching their ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympics.