Korean Air, Hyundai Capital reach men’s finals of Pro Volleyball Cup
Korean Air and Hyundai Capital will meet for the men’s title at the Tongyeong-Dodram Cup 2024.
Korean Air defeated the National Armed Forces Sports Team in straight sets 3-0 (25-22 25-23 25-21) in the semifinals of the tournament at Tongyeong Gymnasium in Gyeongnam on Sunday.
In the other semifinal, Hyundai Capital defeated Samsung Fire 3-2 (25-16 25-21 17-25 22-25 15-12) in a hard-fought match.
Korean Air, which won the V League title for the fourth consecutive year (regular season and championship), will be looking to win its sixth cup title in the club’s history and first since 2022.
Hyundai Capital is looking to rebuild its franchise and win its fifth title in 11 years since 2013.
The final match between Korean Air and Hyundai Capital will kick off at 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 28.
Korean Air’s victory was led by foreign striker Yosvani Hernandez (real name Yosvani).
Hernandez soared in every game, scoring a team-high 26 points. He also had a very high attack success rate of 60%.
Hernandez was on fire from the first set.
Trailing 17-19, Korean Air pulled to within one point when Yosubani’s quick opener was not converted by the Armed Forces Athletic Corps.
The score was tied at 19-19 when Hong Sang-hyuk’s open attack went off the line.
Korean Air defended a quick open by Hong Sang-hyuk and then scored on a strong quick open by Yosubani to take a 20-19 lead.
At 21-21, Korean Air regained the lead after a Yosubani kill, and Kim Gyu-min scored a kill to make it 23-21.
At 23-22, Yosubani saved set point with a back attack.
At 24-22, Kwak Seung-seok received a fastball from Yang Hee-joon and Lee Jun scored from a quick open to end the first set in favor of Korean Air.
The second set was more of the same.
Yosubani scored a back attack at 23-22.
Kwak Seung-seok’s serve hit the net to cut the deficit to 24-23, but Lee Joon sealed the second set with a quick opener.
Korean Air was down 13-16 in the third set before back-to-back errors from their opponents tied the set at 16-16.
A seesaw game ensued, but with Korean Air holding a slim 21-20 lead, Im Jae-young’s open attack went out of bounds and Kwak Seung-seok blocked a quick open from Jung Sung-kyu to further tilt the match in Korean Air’s favor.
At 23-21, Yosubani created match point with a quick opener and Lee Jun sealed the match with a back-attack.
The Armed Forces Athletic Corps reached the semifinals for the first time in its 10th Cup appearance, but failed to reach the final stage.
Hyundai Capital defeated Samsung Fire in a tight full-set match.
After winning the first and second sets, Hyundai Capital dropped the third and fourth sets as Samsung Fire fought back, led by Kim Jung-ho (22 points) and Kim Woo-jin (17 points).
Kim completed the triple crown (at least three serve, back-attack, and blocking points each) with three service aces, six back-attacks, and four blocking points.
However, the fifth set was won by Hyundai Capital, who had the powerful duo of Leonardo Leyva Martinez (24 points-registered name Leo) and Heo Soo-bong (25 points).
Leo scored an opening attack at the start of the fifth set, and Heo immediately followed it up with a service ace.
At 7-6, Heo scored on a quick open and at 8-6, Leo scored on a follow-up attack to break Samsung Fire’s will to chase.
Leo saved match point at 13-10 with a diagonal quick open.
He ended the match with a center-pipe attack at 14-12.
In the fifth set, Heo and Leo scored six points apiece.
Coach Philippe Blanc reached the final in his first tournament as head coach of Hyundai Capital. 안전놀이터