Incheon Jumbos one game away from historic V League title sweep

Volleyball

Published: 01 Apr. 2024, 14:43

Incheon Jumbos one game away from historic V League title sweep

The Incheon Korean Air Jumbos celebrate during a 2023-24 V League championship game against Ansan OK Financial Group Okman at Gyeyang Gymnasium in Incheon on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The Incheon Korean Air Jumbos are one win away from sweeping both the league and championship titles for a fourth consecutive time after beating Ansan OK Financial Group Okman 3-0 in the second game of the best-of-five series on Sunday.

After their 3-1 win over the Ansan side in the first game on Friday last week, the Jumbos displayed yet another formidable performance in Incheon, winning three straight sets 25-21, 25-21 and 29-27 for a clean 3-0 victory on Sunday.

Jumbos new signee Maksim Zhigalov’s impact during the game was clear again, scoring 19 points alone as the team’s top scorer. It was Zhigalov’s second game with the Jumbos, having joined the Incheon side on March 23, right before the championship began.

Veteran outside hitter Kwak Seung-seok also shone on the court, showing an attack success rate of 83 percent to record 11 points for the Jumbos.

“As our team has many veterans and those with a lot of experience of playing in the championship, we trusted each other,” Kwak said after the game. “And regardless of who was able to do well, we worked as one team, which led to a good result.”

One more win in the 2023-24 championship series will make the Jumbos the first-ever team to sweep both the league and championship titles for a fourth straight time.

Not even the once-frontrunners Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs have achieved four total title sweeps in a row. They swept both titles from the 2011-12 season through the 2013-14 season and won the 2014-15 league title again, but lost the championship that season to Okman.

Okman, meanwhile, have never won the league despite having secured two championship titles, in 2015 and 2016. This year is the Ansan side’s first time competing in the championship in eight years.

The Ansan side, however, have displayed solid form this season under head coach Masaji Ogino, who joined the team in the summer ahead of the Korea Volleyball Federation Cup — a preseason tournament in which teams test out their squad ahead of a regular campaign — and immediately won the tournament.

The team managed a third-place finish and went through the so-called “semi-playoffs” and playoffs to reach the championship.

Semi-playoffs are preliminary playoffs between the third- and fourth-place teams that take place when the points gap between the two sides is three points or less.

The do-or-die game for Okman will take place at Sangnoksu Gymnasium in Ansan, Gyeonggi on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

The championship schedule will last through Saturday at the latest.

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