Suwon Hyundai E&C rekindled its dwindling winning streak with a fearsome comeback to win its eighth straight game and regain the lead in the standings.
In the third round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League at Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon on Saturday, Hyundai E&C came back from two sets down to win 3-2 (17-25 20-25 29-27 25-21 15-11) against Daejeon Jungkwanjang, who were led by Moma’s 33 points, Yang Hyo-jin (18), Lee Da-hyun (12), and 바카라사이트 Wipawi (11), with Jia and Mega sharing 28 points apiece.
With the win, Hyundai E&C extended its winning streak to eight games and moved back to the top of the standings with a 12-4 record and 37 points, knocking Incheon Heungkuk Life (35 points), which has played one game less, into second place.
With her block in the second set, Yang Hyo-jin became the first player in the V-League to reach 1,500 blocks in her career.
Jia and Jeong Ho-young took the first set with a one-sided attack. Jia and Jung Ho-young scored back-to-back points early on to give the offensively sluggish Hyundai E&C a 10-4 lead, and the team maintained a steady lead to close out the set 25-17.
In the second set, Jung Kwan-jang took an early lead. The two foreign players, Jia and Mega, led the offense to take a 12-8 lead. HCE responded with three consecutive points from Moma and a center attack from Lee Da-hyun to take the first lead at 16-15.
Later in the second set, however, Jeong Kwan-jang shook up HCE’s reception with his strong serve and middle blocker Jeong Ho-young’s ball-to-ball efforts helped HCE win the set, 25-20, with HCE’s will to win.
In the third set, HCE took an early 5-11 lead thanks to Jia and Mega Ssangpo’s strong play. However, they capitalized on three consecutive errors from their opponents at 12-15 to tie the score at 15-15 and then fought back to take a 24-22 lead, but Jia scored back-to-back points to give them a 24-24 deuce.
In the ensuing deuce battle, Hyundai E&C was trailing 26-27 when a late attack by Moma was followed by an attack error by Mega and a kill by Yang Hyo-jin to take the set.
Keeping the flame alive, Hyundai E&C won the fourth set based on its improved defense from the third set. With the score tied at 8-8, Moma scored three consecutive points and Wipawi hit a left side attack to take a 12-8 lead. The team then steadily increased its lead and won by four points to level the match.
In the fifth set, Hyundai E&C took the early lead. Moma and Yang Hyo-jin took turns scoring points to take a 5-2 lead. With the game on the line, Jung Kwan-jang tied the score at 5-5 with back-to-back points from Mega, and at 7-7, HHI scored three straight points to take a 10-7 lead.
Outside hitter Jeong Ji-yoon scored back-to-back points to make up for his earlier sluggishness, and Moma scored the decisive point at 14-11 to complete the upset.