Pink Spiders beat Red Sparks to reach V League championship

The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders celebrate after winning a 2023-24 V League game against the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks 3-0 at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders beat the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks 3-0 in a third 2023-24 V League playoff game on Tuesday, winning the playoffs 2-1 and reaching the championship for a second consecutive season.

The Pink Spiders needed to bounce back from a 3-1 loss on Sunday, and they did so with a dominant performance at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon, winning the first three sets 25-18, 25-19 and 25-19.

Pink Spiders ace Kim Yeon-koung shone again, scoring 21 points as the top scorer of the game.

The Red Sparks attacking duo of Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi and Giovanna Milana that led the team’s victory on Sunday failed to pull off a strong performance. Mega scored 16 points, with Milana only recording 12 in Tuesday’s contest.

The Red Sparks still ended the 2023-24 season on a good note, as it was their first time reaching the postseason since the 2016-17 campaign.

As for the Pink Spiders, it is their second year joining the championship in a row after managing a runner-up finish this season.

The Incheon side won the league title last season but failed to win the championship after allowing Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass to come from two games behind to take the title.

The Pink Spiders will face league winners Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate in the best-of-five championship, with the first game set to start on Thursday in Suwon, Gyeonggi.

In six head-to-head clashes between the two sides in the regular season, the Pink Spiders won four times.

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