Korea remains winless after another week of VNL action

Korea's Jeong Ji-yun, right, attacks during a Volleyball Nations League game against Germany in Brasilia, Brazil on Sunday. [FIVB]

The Korean women’s volleyball team’s second week of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) ended with four straight losses after a 3-1 defeat to Germany on Sunday in Brazil.

Having lost all previous first and second week games 3-0, Korea was looking for redemption in their last second week game against Germany, but grabbing one set of the game was all they could manage.

Korea exposed their vulnerability in defense from the start of Sunday’s game, losing the first set 25-19, before losing the second set again 25-17.

Germany effectively blocked Korea’s attacks, scoring multiple points through defense in addition to managing points with their own attacks.

Korea then bounced back in the third set with Jeong Ji-yun and Kang So-hwi displaying solid cohesion to tie the set 24-24, before winning 27-25 — the first set Korea has won during this year’s VNL.

They failed to ride that momentum in the fourth set, however, displaying a more disappointing performance to lose the set 25-12 for a final set score of 3-1.

Jeong and Kang scored 16 and 15 points respectively — significantly more than the five apiece in Friday’s game against Croatia — but the duo alone was not enough to save the team from yet another loss.

Sunday’s loss extended Korea’s losing streak in the VNL to 20 games — 12 straight losses last year with eight other losses this year.

The reason behind Korea’s struggle is the team’s lackluster attack. The team’s attack has not been the same since Korean volleyball legend Kim Yeon-koung retired from national duty in 2021.

The team’s top scorer so far is Jeong, who has managed 45 points, followed by Kang with 33 and Pyo Seung-ju and Moon Ji-yun with 31 apiece.

The total points by the three combined is still well below than the tournament’s current top scorer, Melissa Vargas of Turkey with 139.

Korea remains the only winless team out of 16 sides in the VNL.

Even Croatia, who had been winless until Friday’s game against Korea, has secured two wins already — against Korea and again against Serbia on Sunday.

The national team needs to improve their form to be in with a chance of securing a spot at the 2024 Paris Olympics, as the VNL results will impact the FIVB ranking, determining the countries that compete at the Olympics.

Among the 12 countries that will participate in the Games, 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 can also reach the Olympics after going through the qualifiers, but that road will be tough considering they have to beat teams like No. 2 United States and No. 3 Italy.

The national team will return to Korea and prepare for the third week of the VNL at home, set to start in Suwon, Gyeonggi on June 27.

Korea will face Bulgaria on June 27, before taking on the Dominican Republic on June 29, China on July 1 and Poland on July 2.

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