Hillstate creep closer to Pink Spiders at top of V League table

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Hillstate creep closer to Pink Spiders at top of V League table

Published: 04 Dec. 2023, 11:00 Updated: 04 Dec. 2023, 17:38

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate players celebrate during a V League game against Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass at Gimcheon Gymnasium in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang on Thursday. [YONHAP]

Second-place Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate narrowed the gap with league leaders Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders by one point last week with five straight wins, heating up the V League race.

Pink Spiders extend lead after seeing off Kixx, Hillstate

It was a week that saw Hillstate play like they did last season, when the team led the league in the early days. Hillstate were frontrunners in last season’s V League until the Pink Spiders snatched the top position in February and claimed the league title.

Hillstate’s Laetitia Moma Bassoko was the hero of Thursday’s game against Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass at Gimcheon Gymnasium in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang.

After losing the first set 25-23, Hillstate bounced back with the attack around Moma. The Suwon side won the second set 25-20 and third set 25-22, before grabbing the fourth set 25-20 for a final score of 3-1.

Moma was the top scorer of the game with 32 points — the most amount she has ever managed in a single game this season.

Her impact was also visible in Sunday’s game against the GS Caltex Seoul Kixx in central Seoul, scoring 23 points alone to allow Hillstate to thrash the capital side 3-0 — winning the first three sets 25-23, 25-17 and 25-19.

Sunday’s victory was Hillstate’s fifth-consecutive win this season, last losing to the Pink Spiders on Nov. 12.

The Pink Spiders, on the other hand, nearly recorded a loss to the Gwangju AI Peppers on Friday.

The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders' Jelena Mladjenovic, left, attacks during a V League game against the Gwangju AI Peppers at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Friday. [YONHAP]

The game was neck-and-neck, with Pink Spiders’ Jelena Mladjenovic and Peppers’ Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani scoring 34 points apiece, but the Incheon side’s narrow 17-15 win in the tiebreaking fifth set handed them a 3-2 win along with two points.

In the V League, the margin of victory determines how many points a team takes from the game, with a 3-0 or 3-1 win earning three points. If the score ends 3-2, the winning team takes two points and the losing team also earns one point from the game.

Friday’s win extended the Pink Spiders winning streak to eight games, having only lost to the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks on Oct. 26.

Only one point separates the Pink Spiders and Hillstate, but the Incheon side have a chance to solidify the top position, as they have played one game fewer than Hillstate as of Monday.

The Red Sparks, meanwhile, cut their five-game losing streak last week with a 3-1 victory over the Peppers on Nov. 28 and snatched the fourth-place from the Hwaseong IBK Altos, although they lost 3-2 to the Altos on Saturday.

The Peppers remained at the bottom of the seven-team table with two losses to the Pink Spiders and Red Sparks last week, showing no significant improvements from the past two seasons, when they finished at the bottom of the league.

The V League will continue this week, with the Pink Spiders facing the Peppers yet again at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Tuesday. The Altos will then take on the Kixx in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi the following day.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]