Women’s professional volleyball team Heungkuk Life has reclaimed the top of the league after 67 days. Heungkuk Life defeated Pepper Savings Bank 3-1 (25-14 22-25 25-16 25-15) in a home match of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Tuesday .With their six-game winning streak, Heungkuk Life (67-24 W-6 L) moved to the top of the league standings, overtaking Hyundai E&C (67-22 W-7 L), who have played one game less. Heungkuk Life’s rise to the top of the women’s volleyball leaderboard was led by Willow Johnson (registered name Willow – 12 points), who made an early return from a knee injury after 67 days on the sidelines since December 15 last year, and the trio of Reina Tokoku (registered name Reina – 23 points) and Kim Yeon-kyung (18 points).Meanwhile, Pepper Savings Bank extended the women’s single-season and career record for most consecutive losses to 23.With two more losses, they will tie the men’s single-season record (25), and with four more losses, they will overtake the men’s career record (27).Pepper Savings collapsed in the first set.Pepper Savings recorded a reception efficiency of 0%, which led to a low attack success rate (33.33%) and efficiency (13.89%). They committed six errors. Heungkuk Life won the first set 25-14, led by Kim “Ssangpo” Yeon-kyung and Reina, who each had five kills.
In the second set, Yasmin Bedardt (real name Yasmin) gave Pepper Savings Bank the win. She scored 12 points in the set alone (63.16% attack percentage).Heungkuk Life quickly inserted Willow to add defensive height, but to no avail .Pepper Savings Bank took the lead at 21-21 on a back attack by Yasmin and a fast break by M.J. Phillips (registered name Phillips), and after going down by one point, Yasmin and Park Jung-ah scored one after another to end the set.In the third set, Willow was the solution for Heungkuk Life. Willow, who was unable to play against Hyundai E&C on the 15th due to a knee ligament injury, was on fire in the third set with eight points (80.00% attack success rate) without committing an error.At 8-6, Heungkuk Life took the lead with Willow’s quick opener, Kim Soo-ji’s service ace, and Lee Han-bi’s attack error. After setting the tone for the match, Heungkuk Life sealed the victory in the fourth set with evenly matched performances from Reina (8 points), Kim Yeon-kyung (5 points), and Willow (4 points).In the men’s match, Samsung Fire defeated Hyundai Capital 3-2 (25-22 15-25 25-22 18-25 16-14) in a tightly contested match at Gwansoon Gymnasium in Cheonan.
With two valuable points, Samsung Fire (44-17 W-13 L) moved into fourth place in the standings, ahead of KEPCO (44-15 W-14 L), which has played one match less.Sixth-ranked Hyundai Capital (41-13 W-17 L), which also picked up one point, kept its spring volleyball hopes alive. The two teams battled back and forth in the fifth set with the set score tied 2-2.Trailing 9-11, Samsung Chemical fought back with a missed serve, a block by Jeon Jin-sun, and an open kill by Kim Jung-ho, and Hyundai Capital tied the score with a kill by Ahmed Iqbairi (registered name Ahmed).After trading points at 13-13, both teams dropped serves and went for deuce .The match was then split as Samsung Fire’s Kim Jung-ho landed a powerful quick opener and Hyundai Capital’s Heo Soo-bong’s opener was blocked by Son Tae-hoon .For Samsung Fire, Yosvani Hernandez (real name Yosvani) led the way with 24 points, including five in the fifth set, while Kim Woo-jin (16 points) set a new career-high for points in a single match. Hyundai Capital was led by Heo Soo-bong’s team-high 29 points and Ahmed’s 27 points, but the team’s turnover management (36 for Hyundai Capital, 26 for 스포츠토토존 Samsung Fire) was a problem.