Elizabet Inneh-Varga edges closer to 1,000-point season

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Elizabet Inneh-Varga edges closer to 1,000-point season

Published: 08 Mar. 2023, 15:57

Elizabet Inneh-Varga of Daejeon KGC, left, attacks during a V League game against the Gwangju AI Peppers at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Feb. 21. [YONHAP]

Elizabet Inneh-Varga of Daejeon KGC is on track to become the first player to score over 1,000 points in the V League since 2014.

The Hungarian opposite striker’s stats this season have been remarkable, with 937 points as of press time Wednesday. Her record this season has even surpassed the entirety of the previous season, when she scored 598 points in 30 matches.

With two league games remaining, Inneh could reach the 1,000 point milestone that only two players have managed in the history of the league.

The only two players to have scored over 1,000 points are Joyce Silve of Brazil and Madelaynne Montano of Colombia, both former KGC players.

Silve managed 1,009 points in the 2013-14 season, while Montano scored 1,076 points in the 2011-12 season, the all-time record to this day.

Although Inneh has a slim chance of breaking that record, she could still pass Silve’s number.

Inneh has scored over 30 points on multiple occasions this season, with her best game at 56 against Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate last November. In the most recent clash with Hillstate last month, she managed 45 points.

With Inneh’s incomparable stats in the league, the top scorer title will almost certainly go to her at the end of the season.

Last season’s top scorer, Laetitia Moma Bassoko of the GS Caltex Seoul KIXX, is the second highest scorer in the league with 827.

Korean volleyball royalty Kim Yeon-koung is in fifth place with 617 points, although her attack success rate is the highest in the league at 46.05 percent.

Inneh’s performance has also been the key behind KGC’s success this season. The Daejeon side were in fifth place on the seven-team table until January, but moved up to third after riding a six game winning-streak, during which she scored 187 points total.

Securing the top scorer title is important, but Inneh’s top priority will be helping her side retain the third spot until the end of the season, as the team to finish in third earns a chance to play in the playoff against the runners-up.

The winner of that game will then be eligible to play the league leaders in the V League finals for the chance to win the V League Championship.

The last time KGC were crowned champions was in 2012, when Montano managed that 1,076 record.

Three league games remain left for KGC as of press time. They are set to play the Hwaseong IBK Altos on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon.

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