Korean Women’s Volleyball with Hope…
The South Korean women’s volleyball team (ranked 36th in the world) fell short in a thrilling full-set match against powerhouse Germany (ranked 12th).
Led by head coach Cesar Hernández González, Korea lost to Germany by a set score of 2-3 (13-25 21-25 25-23 25-22 7-15) in the third match of Group C of the Paris 2024 Olympic Qualifiers in Łódź, Poland on Monday (June 19).
After falling behind 0-2 in the set score, the Koreans managed to turn the match around with a solid defense, but were overpowered by Germany in the final five sets.
Korea, which had lost its previous matches against Italy (0-3) and Poland (1-3), suffered its third consecutive defeat against Germany on the day, but was able to take the match to a full set and earn its first point of the tournament.
The Koreans, who are in Pool C with Italy, Poland, Germany, USA, Colombia, Thailand and Slovenia, need to finish in the top two of the eight teams to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
With four matches remaining against the United States (9:30 p.m., Aug. 20), Colombia (6:30 p.m., Aug. 22), Thailand (9:30 p.m., Aug. 23) and Slovenia (6:30 p.m., Aug. 24), South Korea has a tough task ahead of it.
Our next opponent, the United States, is a world-class powerhouse at No. 3, and Colombia (No. 22), Thailand (No. 14), and Slovenia (No. 28) are all ranked higher than us.
However, against Germany, the Koreans refused to give up until the very end, giving us a glimmer of hope in the middle of a long tunnel of generational change.
On the day, Korea recovered from a 0-2 deficit in the third set, 23-23, thanks to a hard hit by Lee Han-bi (Pepper Savings Bank) and a direct kill by Lee Da-hyun (Hyundai E&C) on a floating serve by Park Eun-jin (KGC Ginseng Corporation – soon to be renamed Jung Kwan-jang).
In the fourth set, Kang So-hwi (GS Caltex) turned the match around, but the team was unable to overcome the mistake in the fifth set and fell to their knees.
Kang So-hwi finished with a team-high 18 points, while Lee Han-bi contributed 15 points.
South Korea was out-blocked 7-15, but led 7-5 in service points. 토토사이트