Hyundai Engineering & Construction suffered a setback Divided leaders in men's and women's divisions
Woori Card players.
Woori Card, the leader in the professional volleyball men's division, which had suffered five consecutive losses before the All-Star break, has overcome the crisis. On the other hand, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the leader in the women's division, which was on a 7-game winning streak, suffered a setback and its upward trend was halted.
The 2023-24 Dodram V-League concluded the All-Star break last week and entered the 5th round schedule.
Among them, Woori Card, the leader in the men's division, defeated Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance in 3rd place and Korea Electric Power Corporation in 4th place and earned 6 points. They broke away from a 5-game losing streak and maintained their precarious lead by winning 2 games in a row.
Ace Matej Kok, who showed signs of fatigue just before the All-Star break, began to come back to life, and the middle blocker line of Lee Sang-hyun and Park Jin-woo also received strength. Libero Oh Jae-seong and Kim Young-jun also distributed playing time and showed solid defense.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction players.
Woori Card took a breather and maintained the lead with a season record of 17 wins and 9 losses (50 points). Korean Air (15 wins, 11 losses, 47 points) added 4 points with 1 win and 1 loss during the same period, widening the gap between 1st and 2nd place from 1 point to 3 points.
However, the conflict is still continuing. Right now, the gap between 1st and 2nd place is 3 points, which could lead to a tie at any time, and the battle for mid-level positions from 3rd to 6th place is also fierce. If anyone slips up, they could drop down to 6th place, but if they go with the flow, they can even challenge for the lead.
Currently, 3rd place Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (15 wins, 11 losses), 4th place Korea Electric Power Corporation (14 wins, 12 losses), and 5th place OK Financial Group (14 wins, 11 losses) all have the same 40 points. 6th place Hyundai Capital (11 wins, 15 losses, 36 points) also has only a 4-point gap with 3rd place, and is continuing its unusual upward trend by beating Korean Air and OK Financial last week.
OK Financial has the same points as 3rd and 4th place with one less game played, but there are difficult games ahead, such as Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (6th) and Woori Card (9th).
On the other hand, Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the leader in the women's division, suffered an unexpected blow. In the first match of the 5th round, he won an easy victory against the lowest ranked Pepper Savings Bank, but in the subsequent match against the fourth ranked Cheong Kwan Jang, he lost after a close full set. The seven-game winning streak was cut short by an unexpected opponent.
Heungkuk Life Insurance Kim Yeon-kyung and new foreigner Willow Johnson.
Heungkuk Life Insurance, ranked 2nd, went on a winning streak. The team's strength began to stabilize as new foreigner Willow Johnson joined in place of Jelena Mrazenovic, who had been struggling. Heungkuk Life Insurance is showing off its fierce power by shutting out both the Korea Expressway Corporation and GS Caltex games.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Heungkuk Life Insurance have the same season record of 20 wins and 6 losses. However, there is still a gap in points, with Hyundai Engineering & Construction having 62 points and Heungkuk Life Insurance having 56 points.
However, it cannot be overlooked that Heungkuk Life Insurance has been rising at a frightening pace recently and that Hyundai Engineering & Construction has seen a turn in the trend. Last season, Hyundai Engineering & Construction had the experience of leading until the middle of the season, but fell into a slump at the end and lost the regular season championship to Heungkuk Life Insurance.
In the mid-level rankings, attention should be paid to the head of the government. Following last week's IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, the leader Hyundai Engineering & Construction was defeated, and the winning percentage was 50% (13 wins, 13 losses, 41 points) thanks to the recent upward trend of 3 consecutive wins.
The pair of Megawatti Puttywi (registered name Mega) and Giovanni Malana (registered name Zia) are showing off their power, and Lee So-young and Jeong Ho-young are also supporting them. The gap with 3rd place GS Caltex (15 wins, 10 losses, 43 points) is 2 points, so it is worth aiming to regain 3rd place.
This week, Cheong Kwan Jang will face off against second place Heungkuk Life Insurance.
Meanwhile, Pepper Savings Bank in the women's division is facing a disgraceful record. Pepper, who lost both Hyundai Engineering & Construction and road construction games held last week, has recently fallen into the throes of a 19-game losing streak.
If they lose in the GS Caltex match held on the 6th, they will tie the record for the most consecutive losses in a season in the women's division (2012-13 season, CheongKwanJang), and if they lose in the IBK Industrial Bank of Korea match on the 10th, they will set a new record. 섯다