He came from behind to beat Heungkuk Life
Hyundai E&C turned the tables with a set score of 3-2 (23-25 25-21 21-25 25-17 15-13) in the second leg of the 2023-2024 Dodram V-League championship match (three wins out of five) held at Suwon Gymnasium on the 30th.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which was dragged with a set score of 0-2 in the first game on the 28th, won three sets and achieved a dramatic come-from-behind victory, also showed its potential in the second game.
After giving up the first set first, he made up for the second set, and lost the third set again, winning the fourth and fifth sets despite the deep defeat.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction will lift the championship trophy even if it wins just once in the remaining three games.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction beat Heungkuk Life Insurance in the 2010-2011 season to win its first championship game, and in the 2015-16 season, it earned its second “Star” against IBK Industrial Bank.
Heungkuk Life Insurance was the only team in the history of women’s volleyball that failed to win the first and second rounds of the championship game.
Heungkuk Life Insurance contributed to the Korea Expressway Corporation by giving up three games after leading the series with two wins and no losses.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction’s main gun, Letizia Moma Basoko (registered name Moma), showed off her strength by scoring 34 points alone.
“Bloquin” Yang Hyo-jin scored 19 points and was responsible for six blocks alone, 75% of the team’s eight blocks.
Jung Ji-yoon (15 points) and Wipawi Sitong (12 points) also played their part.
Heungkuk Life Insurance’s Kim Yeon-kyung (28 points), Willow Johnson (25 points), and Dokoku Raina (22 points) combined with 75 points.
Heungkuk Life was ahead of the strikers, but they failed to overcome the last crisis in the fifth set, so both rounds knelt after the full set.
Heungkuk Life Insurance, whose physical strength is weak due to the playoff, will also face two losses in both the championship match after a full-set battle.
Heungkuk Life took a 22-19 lead in the third set, with a set score of 1-1, with a block by Lee Ju-ah, who blocked Moma’s serve error and Yang Hyo-jin’s attack.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction recovered one point with Yang Hyo-jin’s quick attack, but Heungkuk Life made a set point with Willow’s rear attack and Kim Yeon-koung’s open attack, and then took the third set by Kim Yeon-koung’s time difference.
Then, Hyundai Engineering & Construction led the game to the full set without missing the lead it took with a mistake against the opponent in the fourth set.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction scored four consecutive goals with two opponent errors, a block by Jung Ji-yoon and a spike by MOMA in the fourth set of 9-8.
In 14-10, relay scores by Jung Ji-yoon, Yang Hyo-jin, and Moma widened the score to 18-10.
In the end, it wasn’t until the fifth set that the two teams split their joys and sorrows.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction piled up points by points with a straight attack by Wipawi and a powerful spike by Moma, while Heungkuk Life drove the ball to Kim Yeon-koung and Willow Ssangpo.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction led 12-9 before allowing Raina to score two consecutive points, leading by one point.
Yang Hyo-jin added another point, but Heungkuk Life succeeded in scoring the quick open again.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction made a match point with MOMA’s back attack, and Heungkuk Life caught up again with Kim Yeon-koung’s time difference attack.
Here, Hyundai E&C setter Kim Da-in put the ball on Yang Hyo-jin twice in a row, but all were blocked by the opponent, and finally, he tossed it to Moma, who was waiting at the rear.
The moment the powerful rear attack of Moma hit Heungkuk Life Blocker Kim Soo-ji’s fingertips, a festival took place at Suwon Gymnasium.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction will challenge for the first trophy in eight years in the third round of the championship decision at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on the 1st of next month.
Heungkuk Life Insurance, which is on the brink of a cliff, aims for a social life in its home room.