Hillstate nab big wins at home to stay at top of V League

Volleyball

Published: 16 Jan. 2024, 10:01 Updated: 16 Jan. 2024, 17:25

Hillstate nab big wins at home to stay at top of V League

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate players, right, celebrate during a V League game against the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Sunday. [YONHAP]

V League leaders Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate continued their dominance again last week with two straight wins, going five points clear at the top of the table and pulling themselves away from second-place Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders.

As the race for the top position remained competitive with both Hillstate and Pink Spiders showing a strong performance, the Suwon side had to maintain their momentum to stay at the top.

Hillstate hold on to narrow lead as V League race stays hot

Wednesday’s game against third-place GS Caltex Seoul Kixx at home turned out to be a fierce contest that forced the game into a fifth set, but Hillstate won the deciding last set for a final score of 3-2.

The victory gave Hillstate 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.

Hillstate then added three more points on Sunday with a huge 3-0 victory against the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks at home, cutting the Red Sparks’ four-game winning streak.

Sunday’s victory marked Hillstate’s fifth straight win in the league. The Suwon side have shown a convincing performance so far this season that could allow them to secure the league title that they missed last season.

Defending champions Pink Spiders also secured three points last week with a 3-1 victory over Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass on Friday.

The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders celebrate during a V League game against Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass at Gimcheon Gymnasium in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang on Friday. [KOVO]

Their second-place standing looks secure, as third-place Kixx are 10 points behind the Incheon side.

The Kixx stayed in third place, but only added three points after that 3-2 loss against Hillstate and 3-2 win over the fourth-place Hwaseong IBK Altos on Saturday.

At the bottom of the table, sixth-place Hi-Pass and last-place Gwangju AI Peppers failed to climb up the standings.

Hi-pass managed a 3-1 win against the Altos on Jan. 9 before their 3-1 loss to the Pink Spiders while the Peppers lost two straight games last week, again.

The Gwangju side have yet to win a game this year, having recorded their last win on Nov. 10, 2023 against the Kixx.

The V League will continue this week. As of press time, Hi-Pass was due to face the Peppers in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Pink Spiders then travel to the capital to face the Kixx on Wednesday.

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