Korea looks to snap losing streak as Volleyball Nations League continues

Korea's Park Jeong-ah attacks during a Volleyball Nations League game against Turkey at Antalya Sports Hall in Antalya, Turkey on May 31. [FIVB]

The Korean women’s national volleyball team will be back in action on Wednesday as they look to cut their 16-game losing streak at the Volleyball Nations League (VNL).

Korea will play Brazil — the No. 1 nation on the FIVB Women’s Volleyball World Ranking as of Tuesday — in Brasilia, Brazil on Wednesday.

The national team is keen to show improvements in the second week of the VNL — running from June 13 to 19 — after ending the first week winless.

Korea lost all of its previous games 3-0 to Turkey, Canada, United States and Thailand.

The team’s attack has been unimpressive with the absence of Kim Yeon-koung, who retired from national duty after the Tokyo Olympics, having tied the score 24-24 only three times in the four games.

Captain Park Jeong-ah, who has led the team’s attack, has only managed 27 points total — the most by any Korean player so far. Pyo Seung-ju is the team’s second-highest scorer with 24.

Brazil, on the other hand, has been on a successful run, recording three wins and one loss in the first week.

The team’s top scorer Ana Cristina has been behind that success, having scored 78 points on her own.

Julia Bergmann has also been prolific with 47 points.

A loss against Brazil will be concerning for Korea, who are hoping to secure a spot in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The VNL results will impact the FIVB Volleyball World Ranking, which will determine the countries that compete in the Paris Olympics.

Among the 12 countries that will participate in the Olympics, five will land in the competition based on the FIVB World Ranking by June 2024, prioritizing continents that do not have qualified teams in the competition.

Six other countries will reach the tournament through qualifiers along with France, who will automatically join as host nation.

Korea, ranked at No. 26, can also participate in the Olympics after going through the qualifiers, but that road will be tough considering they have to beat higher-ranked countries like No. 2 United States, No. 4 Italy, No. 8 Poland, No. 12 Germany, No. 15 Thailand, No. 19 Colombia and No. 24 Slovenia.

The game against Brazil will start at 9 p.m. on Wednesday, or 9 a.m. Thursday morning in Korea.

Korea will then play Japan on Thursday, before taking on Croatia on Friday and Germany on Sunday.

All Korea’s games will be broadcast through streaming service Coupang Play in Korea.

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