Hillstate hold on to top spot as competition heats up in the V League

Volleyball

Published: 14 Nov. 2022, 15:10

Hillstate hold on to top spot as competition heats up in the V League

Kim Yeon-koung, right, receives the ball during a Pink Spiders' game against Hi-pass on Sunday at Samsan Stadium in Incheon. [NEWS1]

The 2023-23 V League season has only just begun and there is already a clear three-way race underway, with Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate, the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders and Gimcheon Korea Expressway Corporation Hi-pass all vying for the top spot.

After a 3-2 win over Korea Ginseng Corporation on Friday, Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate are still at the top of the table with six straight wins.

Even though they haven't dropped a single match this season, Hillstate's match on Friday was the club's closest yet. They conceded the first set 25-22 and narrowly lost the fourth set 27-25. In the end, Hillstate prevailed and won the decider 15-12.

While Hillstate gets to keep their lead for another week, the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders are hot on their heels, having beaten Gimcheon Korea Expressway Corporation Hi-pass 3-2 on Sunday. They stand second on the table with five wins and one loss.

On Sunday, Hi-pass was looking for their fourth win to tie with the Pink Spiders on the standings, while the Pink Spiders were looking to stay in second place.

After conceding the first two sets 25-12, 25-18, Hi-pass put up a fight in the third set and won it 25-23 with new foreign player Katarina Jovic smashing in the last point.

Hi-pass seemed to have figured a way around the Pink Spiders, taking the fourth set 25-16 to level the score at two sets each, pushing the game into a fifth set.

But they wobbled at the start of the first set, conceding the first three points to the Pink Spiders. The Pink Spiders did not lose that lead until the very end, winning the deciding set 15-9.

Sunday's match at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon was a sell-out with Korean volleyball household name Kim Yeon-koung and teammate Jelena Mladjenović back at it for the Incheon club. Jelena added 29 points for the club, the most across both teams, while Kim was the next highest scorer for Incheon with 19 points. Kim was named the player of the game.

"Although we won the game, I don't think it was one that makes us proud," said Kim on Sunday.

"Hi-pass are strong in their blocks and defense and because the momentum shifted in the third set, we played a difficult match."

Kim Yeon-koung, left, celebrates with other players during a Pink Spiders' game against Hi-pass on Sunday at Samsan Stadium in Incheon. [NEWS1]

After having beaten the GS Caltex Kixx in three straight sets on Thursday, the Pink Spiders are now just one win away from top club Hillstate.

The Kixx sit fourth on the standings while Industrial Bank of Korea Altos are fifth, Korea Ginseng Corporation are sixth and Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers are at the bottom of the standings after the Industrial Bank of Korea beat the AI Peppers 3-1, which was the Peppers' sixth loss in a row.

The Peppers are the most recent addition to the seven-club women's V League and have been struggling against the more seasoned clubs since joining the league last April.

When the Peppers were added to the league last season, it marked the first time in 10 years that a new club joined the V league, after the Industrial Bank of Korea founded the Hwaseong IBK Altos in 2011.

While it was expected that the Peppers would undergo a trial and error period, especially because the team consists of new blood rather than tried and tested players, the Gwangju club would not have expected the period to last for more than a whole season.

This year, as the newest club, the Peppers had the first pick at the rookie draft in September. Their pick was unsurprisingly top prospect Tseveenravdan Orkhon from Mokpo Girls' Commercial High School.

Orkhon was born in Mongolia in 2004 and came to Korea in 2019. In 2021, she was adopted by Korea Ginseng Corporation Yeum Hye-seon's parents, taking the Korean surname Yeum. Orkhon recently gained Korean citizenship after passing the naturalization test in October which enabled her to start playing in the V League. However, after playing in two of Pepper Bank's matches this season, Orkhon is yet to score a single point.

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