Hillstate interrupt Pink Spiders solid start with 3-1 win

Kim Yeon-koung of the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders, left, plays the ball against Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders’ winning streak was cut to two matches after last season’s top club Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate beat the Incheon club 3-1 on Tuesday.

Hillstate is now the only lossless club in the women’s V league. The Suwon team has only conceded two sets, one against the Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers on Oct. 28 and another against the Pink Spiders on Tuesday. They top the standings with three wins and no losses.

Despite volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung having returned to the Pink Spiders this season, Tuesday's loss may be a reminder that volleyball is a team sport and that the Incheon club still has some work to do in terms of teamwork and serves.

This season, Kim signed a one-year, 700-million-won ($540,000) deal to rejoin the Pink Spiders in the V league. The last time Kim played for the Pink Spiders was in the 2020-21 season, when she returned for one season after 11 years playing in Japan, China and Turkey.

On Tuesday, even with Kim and teammate Jelena Mladjenović scoring the most points for the Pink Spiders with 15 points each, the best scorer was Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani of Hyundai Hillstate with 25 points.

In addition to Yassmeen’s 25 points, serves were what gave Hillstate the edge.

After Hillstate won the first set and the Pink Spiders took the second, the game was still neck-and-neck in the middle of the third set.

But at 17-15, Hillstate with the two-point advantage, Lee Da-hyeon’s two timely aces were what seemed to have brought the momentum to Hillstate’s side. Hillstate won the third set 25-18 and the fourth set 25-12.

While the Pink Spiders were only able to add three serve points throughout the match, Hillstate’s strong serves earned them 10 points.

Hillstate will this season have their eyes fixed on the title after narrowly missing out on the trophy for two years despite topping the standings.

Last season, with Hillstate just one win away from winning the trophy, the Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) canceled the remaining scheduled games of the 2021-22 V league and the postseason as the number of Covid-19 cases was climbing at the time.

The premature end to the season meant that for the second time in the last three years, Hillstate were unable to win the V league title despite dominating for the entire season and being just one win away from winning the trophy.

Hillstate also failed to win in the 2019-20 season, which was cut short after the first five rounds. They had topped the table that season after winning 20 matches and losing seven.

The 2022-23 V league season started Oct. 22 and will continue to April 7 next year.

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