Ivonne Montano leads resurgent Hillstate to another win

Ivonne Montano of Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate, left, attacks during a V League game against the Gwangju AI Peppers at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Sunday. [NEWS1]

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate’s new Colombian opposite hitter Ivonne Montano’s improved attack success rate at Sunday’s 3-2 win against Gwangju AI Peppers gave the Suwon side hope of regaining the top spot on the V League table.

Hillstate signed the Colombian star last month in order to fill the vacancy left by Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani, who was dropped from the squad due to injury.

Montano, who was the top scorer in the Swiss league for two seasons in a row, was expected to carry her side’s attack as her predecessor had.

She needed some time to adjust to the league, scoring a total of 81 points with a 37 percent attack success rate in her first four games. In her debut game, which was also against the Peppers on Feb. 10, she only managed 13 points.

Montano seems to have found her groove now, with her attack success rate going over 40 percent. She managed 21 points with an attack success rate at 42 percent in the match against the GS Caltex Seoul KIXX last Wednesday.

Montano was the top scorer and the MVP in that game, which ended with a 3-0 win for the Suwon side.

Her class was on display on Sunday against the Peppers at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, where she recorded 23 points with an attack success rate at 43 percent, which was her highest success rate yet.

With Montano carrying her side’s attack and securing wins for the team, there is a chance for Hillstate to catch up to their biggest competitor the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders and regain the top spot on the table.

Hillstate had held on to the top position for over half of the season, but ceded it to the Pink Spiders on Feb. 15.

The gap with the league leaders is four points, with Hillstate having played one more game as of Monday.

There are three remaining regular season games for Hillstate. Their last game on March 19 is against the Pink Spiders.

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