Middle blocker-turned-commentator Chang So-yun takes helm at AI Peppers

Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers's new head coach Chang So-yun [YONHAP]

The Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers signed Chang So-yun as new head coach, the club announced on Monday.

Chang joins the club nearly a month after the Peppers terminated their contract with then-head coach Joe Trinsey, who struggled throughout the 2023-24 V League season and finished at the bottom of the league table.

This season was not only the third consecutive time the Peppers have finished at the bottom since their foundation in 2021, but it was by far the worst campaign for the Gwangju side, with the team recording the longest single-season losing streak in women’s V League history, at 23 games.

New signees like former Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass ace Park Jeong-ah failed to save the team from suffering another tough result.

Chang’s main task will be reinforcing the squad before the 2024-25 season.

Chang, 49, played as a middle blocker and was on the books with multiple teams including Daejeon KGC, now called Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks, and Hi-Pass.

She was a regular pick for the national team from 1993 through 2004, during which she won a silver medal at the 2002 Asian Games.

Following her retirement from the sport in 2016, she started working as a volleyball commentator at SBS Sports.

The appointment of Chang marks the very first time she has taken a managerial role of any kind.

Chang has over six months to bring changes to the Peppers, as the regular 2023-24 season is over and the next season does not begin until October this year.

The 2023-24 postseason is ongoing, with the playoffs between league runners-up Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders set to face third-place Red Sparks in a third playoff game on Tuesday evening.

The postseason will finish after the best-of-five championship between league winners Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate and the as-yet-undetermined playoff winner is over.

The championship schedule will last through April 5 at the latest.

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