Hillstate just one win away from season title

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Hillstate just one win away from season title

Yassmeen Bedart-Ghani of Hyundai Hillstate attacks during a the match against Korea Expressway Hi-pass on Tuesday at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon. [YONHAP]

Yassmeen Bedart-Ghani of Hyundai Hillstate attacks during a the match against Korea Expressway Hi-pass on Tuesday at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon. [YONHAP]

 
Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate are now just one win away from securing their season title, beating Korea Expressway Hi-pass 3-2 on Tuesday.
 
Hyundai Hillstate currently are on top of the table with 28 wins and three losses. All three losses were against the second-place Hi-pass. If they win their next match against the GS Caltex Kixx on Friday, Hillstate will secure their season trophy with four matches remaining.  
 
On Tuesday, Hillstate seemed like they were going to get away easily after the first two sets, taking the first set 25-19 then the second set 25-22. But Hi-pass did not back down, taking the third set 27-25 after a hard fight, then leveling the match winning the fourth set 25-20.  
 
In the end, Hillstate took the fifth match 15-10 to clinch a win with Yassmeen Bedart-Ghani scoring the last point of the match but Hi-pass still proving they were Hillstate's biggest contender. Hi-pass are not only the sole team to beat Hillstate but were also able to end Hillstate's winning streak of 15 matches on Feb. 23, shutting out Hillstate in three sets, 25-22, 25-19, 25-18.  
 
Hillstate's Bedart-Ghani scored 31 points while Yang Hyo-jin scored 18 points. Hi-pass's Kelsie Payne scored 34 points, the most of the match.  
 
Yang Hyo-jin of Hyundai Hillstate attacks during a the match against Korea Expressway Hi-pass on Tuesday at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon. [YONHAP]

Yang Hyo-jin of Hyundai Hillstate attacks during a the match against Korea Expressway Hi-pass on Tuesday at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon. [YONHAP]

 
This season, Hillstate were looking like the team to beat from the start. Last December, Hillstate recorded a winning streak of 12 games that came to an end on Dec. 7, when Korea Expressway Corporation Hi-pass beat them 3-2.  
 
Then on Feb. 22, Hillstate were able to set the longest winning streak in women's V League history beating Industrial Bank of Korea Altos with a set score of 3-1 on Feb. 22. The previous record was 14 consecutive wins set by Seoul GS Caltex Kixx in the 2009-10 season.  
 
Hillstate are looking to win the V League trophy for the first time in 11 years. The last time Hillstate took home the trophy was in the 2010-2011 season, when they won 20 out of 24 matches.
 
Hillstate missed out on their chance at winning in the 2019-2020 season, which was cut short after the first five rounds. They had topped the table that season after winning 20 matches and losing seven.  
 
Last season, Hillstate finished at the bottom of the table, winning only 11 of their 30 matches.  
 
The Pink Spiders hold the most titles, having won the championship in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2019. They also finished runner-up four times in 2008, 2011, 2017 and last season, when they lost to the Kixx in the championship series.
 
Hillstate will next face the Kixx at home on Friday, looking to secure their top seat on the table.  
 
However, Hillstate will be facing a strong team — the Kixx achieved the first ever treble in women's professional volleyball history last March, taking the championship title after coming out on top in three games of the best-of-five series, winning the 2020-21 regular season title and also the pre-season KOVO Cup.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]
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