Woori Card beat Bluefangs to secure postseason spot

Volleyball

Published: 24 Mar. 2022, 16:48 Updated: 24 Mar. 2022, 16:49

Woori Card beat Bluefangs to secure postseason spot

Seoul Woori Card WooriWON players celebrate beating Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs in straight sets at Jangchung Gymnasium in central Seoul on Wednesday. [KOVO]

Seoul Woori Card WooriWON will be advancing to the men's V League postseason after beating Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs in three straight sets on Wednesday.

Woori Card beat the Bluefangs in three sets — 25-20, 25-20, 25-23 — at Jangchung Gymnasium in central Seoul on Wednesday to secure their seat in the V League postseason for their second consecutive season.

Woori Card won their last two matches to secure a total of 56 points with 16 wins and 19 losses and are now six points ahead of fourth-place Suwon Kepco Vixtorm with 18 wins and 15 losses and two matches in hand over Woori Card.

Woori Card's final match of the regular season will be against Kepco, and if Woori Card loses that match and Kepco wins all three of its remaining games, Woori Card will be fourth with 56 points and Kepco will be third with 59 points.

In that case, Woori Card will have to face Kepco one more time to determine who gets to play in the final playoffs. In the V League, a semi-playoff is held if the difference in points between the third and fourth-place teams is less than three points.

On the other hand, if Woori Card finishes the season in third place, more than four points ahead of Kepco, Woori Card will go straight to the playoffs without a semi-playoff.

The showdown between Woori Card and Kepco scheduled on Sunday will be an important match for both teams as Kepco fight for a shot at the semi-playoff.

The odds are on the Seoul clubs' side, as Woori Card have beaten Kepco in their last three matches, two of them in straight sets.

Seoul Woori Card WooriWON players block the ball against Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs at Jangchung Gymnasium in central Seoul on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

At the top of the table are the Incheon Korean Air Jumbos, who currently have 65 points after 22 wins and 12 losses so far this season, closely followed by KB Insurance on 62 points. With two matches remaining, the Jumbos are looking to defend their regular season title.

The Jumbos won the men's V league title last year after beating the Seoul Woori Card Wibees — now the WooriWON — in the championship series to take both the regular season and championship titles for the first time in the club's history. It was also the first time in seven years that the V League has seen one team win the double. The last time the feat was achieved was back in the 2013-14 season, when Samsung Fire Insurance won both.

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