Pink Spiders trounce Hillstate to tie on points at top of V League table

Volleyball

Published: 08 Feb. 2023, 16:02 Updated: 08 Feb. 2023, 16:38

Pink Spiders trounce Hillstate to tie on points at top of V League table

Kim Yeon-koung of the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders, left, attacks during a V League game against Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders thrashed league leaders Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate 3-0 on Tuesday at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi to tie on points at the top of the table.

The Pink Spiders are now tied with Hillstate with 60 points, but they still rank one position below the Suwon side because they have one less win.

Both sides needed a victory on Tuesday as Hillstate looked to defend their lead and the Pink Spiders worked to close the gap.

The game started the way the Pink Spiders had wanted, as they took the first set 25-21.

Hillstate seemed to bounce back in the second set, taking it all the way to a tied score at 25-25, but failed to block Kim Yeon-koung’s attacks in the end and lost the set 27-25.

The Pink Spiders were then able to take the third set with ease, winning 25-15 to take the match.

The key to victory for the Pink Spiders was undeniably their formidable attacking duo, Kim and Jelena Mladenovic, who scored 42 points in total. Kim was the top scorer with 22 points of her own.

“I wanted to win the game today no matter what, because a loss would have resulted in a gap of five or six points, so it would have pulled us far away from the V League title,” Kim said in a post-match interview. “I am happy that I marked today with three points.”

The Pink Spiders pulled off the win despite still being without a head coach. They have been playing under interim head coach Kim Dae-kyung since former head coach Kwon Soon-chan was unexpectedly dropped on Jan. 2.

This is also the first time the Incheon side recorded a 3-0 victory over Hillstate this season. Their last win against the Suwon side was in December last year when they beat Hillstate 3-1.

The more recent match against Hillstate was on Jan. 11, which the Pink Spiders lost 3-2.

The Pink Spiders’ next game is against Hwaseong IBK Altos at Samsan Gymansium in Incheon on Saturday.

A win on Saturday might put the Incheon side in the coveted top spot on the table.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]