Suwon shuts out Incheon 3-0, extending winning streak to nine

Volleyball

Published: 27 Nov. 2022, 16:06

Suwon shuts out Incheon 3-0, extending winning streak to nine

Kim Yeon-koung of the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders, rignt, plays the ball against Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate's Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghaniat at Samsan Stadium in Incheon on Friday. [YONHAP]

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate completely shut out the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders in Friday's showdown, the Suwon club extending their winning streak to nine matches and tightening their already firm grip of their top position.

With a complete 3-0 victory over the runner-up club, Hillstate is already looking like the club to beat, just a month into the 2022-23 V League season.

Going into Friday’s match, the Pink Spiders were just one win behind Hillstate, as the Incheon club had seven wins while the Suwon club had eight in a row.

However, Suwon beating Incheon in a complete 3-0 shutout on Friday pushed the points difference to six.

While Hillstate breezed past the Pink Spiders in the first set, taking it 25-19, the Incheon club pushed the second set to 27-25 but the Suwon club outplayed Incheon to win the last two points of the second set.

With a 25-18 on the scoreboard for the third set, Hillstate grabbed the all-important three points, tightening the grip on their pole position.

Kim Yeon-koung of the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders, center, talks to her teammates during the match against Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate at Samsan Stadium in Incheon on Friday. [NEWS1]

For the Incheon club, this comes as a big disappointment especially after signing Korean volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung this season to rejoin the Pink Spiders.

Kim this June signed a one-year, 700-million-won ($542,000) deal to rejoin the Pink Spiders.

She debuted in 2005 with the Incheon club and moved overseas for the first time in 2009, joining a Japanese club.

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.

Kim then jetted off to Shanghai in May of 2021 to join the Shanghai Bright Ubest Women's Volleyball Club, returning to the team four years after she led it to the top of the Chinese Super League in the 2017-18 season to snap a 17-year drought. The team finished runner-up in the championship that year.

At the time, the Pink Spiders, who Kim is still contractually bound to if she plays in Korea, made it clear that an offer was always on the table, rebuffing the suggestion of a trade to Pepper Savings Bank at the start of the season.

After having spent a restless 2020-21 season, playing a total of 41 games including the Korean Volleyball Federation (KOVO) Cup, all regular season games and the championship playoffs, one of the main reasons Kim chose the Shanghai club seemed to be because of the shorter season.

This January, Kim became a free agent internationally after rounding off the Chinese Volleyball Super League season with Shanghai Bright Ubest, finishing the 2021-22 season in third place.

Kim initially headed to the United States for training, and at the time it looked unlikely that she would return to the V League. That changed when Kim returned home from training and the Pink Spiders reached out to offer her a deal.

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate's Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghaniat, right, spikes the ball against the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders at Samsan Stadium in Incheon on Friday. [YONHAP]

For Hillstate, the start of this season looks a lot like last season. In the 2021-22 season, Hillstate recorded the longest winning streak in the history of the V League, at 15 games.

Hillstate was able to set that record on Feb. 22 after beating the Altos at Suwon Gymnasium with a set score of 3-1, beating the previous record of 14 consecutive wins set by Seoul GS Caltex Kixx in the 2009-10 season.

Not only did they win 15 matches in a row, but they also won 45 sets, conceding only 10 in total, meaning that they pulled off a 3-0 complete shutout in seven of their matches and had to play only two five-set matches.

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

Last season, with Hillstate just one win away from winning the trophy, KOVO canceled the remaining scheduled games of the 2021-22 V League season 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 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 Pink Spiders will next face the GS Caltex Kixx on Tuesday while Hillstate will be looking to extend their winning streak to 10 matches against Korea Ginseng Corporation on Wednesday.

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