Pink Spiders to push for regular season title on Wednesday

Volleyball

Published: 14 Mar. 2023, 15:04 Updated: 16 Mar. 2023, 14:36

Pink Spiders to push for regular season title on Wednesday

The Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders' Kim Yeong-koung, left, celebrates with her teammate Jelena Mladjenovic during a V League game against Daejeon KGC at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Saturday. [YONHAP]

The Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders need just one more point to secure the 2022-23 V League regular season title as they face the Hwaseong IBK Altos in their second-to-last league game on Wednesday.

The Pink Spiders went six points clear on top of the league after thrashing Daejeon KGC 3-0 on Saturday. The Incheon side can even win the title if they lose — assuming it is 3-2. V League rules stipulate that a team that wins 3-2 earns two points, while the losing side also takes one.

The Pink Spiders spent most of the season behind the Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate, who held on to the top spot for over half of the season.

The Incheon side, however, snatched the top position on Feb. 15 and has retained it since.

They suffered two losses against GS Caltex Seoul KIXX and Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass after Feb. 15, but they never ceded their position to Hillstate as the Suwon side also recorded multiple losses in February.

The last time the Pink Spiders won the league title was in 2019, when they were also crowned V League champions.

This season’s league title will be meaningful for the Pink Spiders because it will prove their success despite unexpectedly dropping their head coach Kwon Soon-chan in January.

The Incheon side played well even under then-interim head coach Kim Dae-kyung until Marcello Abbondanza took charge of the team on Feb. 19.

The Pink Spiders under the interim coach even trounced then league leaders Hillstate 3-0 on Feb. 7 and continued to display a good performance, before topping the table.

Kim Dae-kyung was not the sole reason behind the team’s success during the absence of the head coach. His squad continued to display a solid performance during that period and continued to do so since Abbondanza took the helm.

Star player Kim Yeon-koung has been consistent throughout the season and is one of the most prominent players in the league as her attack success rate is the highest at 45.57 percent.

The same goes for teammate Jelena Mladjenovic, who is the third highest scorer with 798 points.

This season’s league title will be Mladjenovic’s first in the V League and Kim Yeon-koung's first since 2008.

Kim Yeon-koung has won the title three times with the Incheon side: 2006, 2007 and 2008.

Meanwhile, the Pink Spiders latest clash with the Altos on Feb. 11 ended with a 3-1 loss for the Incheon side.

The two sides are facing off on Wednesday at Hwaseong Gymnasium in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi.

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