Volleyball returns Saturday as Hillstate, Jumbos start long title defense

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Volleyball returns Saturday as Hillstate, Jumbos start long title defense

Published: 17 Oct. 2024, 14:44 Updated: 17 Oct. 2024, 15:58

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Women's V League players and head coaches pose for a photo during a media day event at K Hotel in southern Seoul on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

The 2024-25 V League season kicks off Saturday as the seven men's and seven women's teams begin a six-month fight for the regular season title and a ticket to the postseason.

In the women's league, everything is Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate's to lose. The Gyeonggi club dominated the 2023-24 campaign, winning both the league and championship titles for the first time in 13 years.

The men’s V League, meanwhile, was dominated last year by the Incheon Korean Air Jumbos, sweeping both titles for a fourth straight season and becoming the first V League team ever to achieve the feat.

Here's how the teams line up this season.

Women’s V League

The 2023-24 regular season saw a competitive race between eventual league champions Hillstate and runners-up Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders, with the two sides maintaining a narrow point gap through the end of the campaign.

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate celebrate winning the 2023-24 V League Championship after a 3-2 win over the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on April 1. [NEWS1]

That fierce competition carried over to the postseason, where the two sides faced each other in the championship. Hillstate ultimately made short work of their rivals, lifting the trophy in style after winning the best-of-five series 3-0.

The Suwon side is a clear favorite to win both titles this season given that their largely unchanged squad proved their prowess at the 2024 Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) Cup — a preseason tournament in which all seven V League teams compete — earlier this month where they claimed the title.

Hillstate’s outside hitter Laetitia Moma Bassoko, who was the team’s top scorer and the league’s fourth top scorer last season with 886 points, is still in the squad alongside other key players like Yang Hyo-jin and Jeong Ji-yun.

Outside hitter Wipawee Srithong, who joined Hillstate last season through the Asia Quota — a system through which the seven teams can recruit an additional foreign player provided they are from select Asian countries — is also still in the team after establishing herself as a regular pick last season.

For the Pink Spiders, their primary quest in the upcoming season will be redeeming themselves from their failure to win any of the three titles this year. The Incheon side has finished as runner-up in the championship for the past two seasons.

Korean volleyball legend Kim Yeon-young, 36, has not publicly said that she will retire at the end of the 2024-25 season, but did say that she would give it one more shot for the upcoming season after the team missed the championship title the last two seasons.

Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders' Kim Yeon-koung, right, celebrates during a 2023-24 V League Championship game against Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on April 1. [YONHAP]

The Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks, meanwhile, start the campaign on the back of a third-place finish last season that sent them to the postseason for the first time in seven years.

Red Sparks outside hitter Megawati Pertiwi, who joined the club through the Asia Quota and quickly became a fan favorite, will continue to be in action after finishing last season as the team’s top scorer with 736.

The Hwaseong IBK Altos and GS Caltex Seoul Kixx, meanwhile, head to the court after recording the exact same number of points, at 51. The Altos still edged out the Kixx by more wins and finished fourth, with the Kixx coming in at No. 5.

Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass head back to the court after a rather poor run last season where they finished in sixth place on the seven-team table.

The squad has a new addition that could boost their attack: Former Kixx outsider hitter Kang So-hwi. Kang has consistently been a key player both for the Kixx and Korean national team for years.

For the Gwangju AI Peppers, the upcoming season is a quest to cut a concerningly poor run since the team's foundation in 2021.

The Gwangju AI Peppers react during a V League game against the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks in Gwangju on Feb. 16. [YONHAP]

The Peppers have finished at the bottom of the league table for the past three seasons and even set the longest losing streak in V League history at 23 games last season.

The 2024-25 season will see whether Peppers new head coach Chang So-hyu, who has never taken a managerial role of any kind, can bring noticeable improvements to the squad.

Men’s V League

The obvious challenge for the Jumbos in the men’s V League is stretching their dominance by becoming the first team to sweep both the league and championship titles for five consecutive seasons.

The men's V Leage teams' players and head coaches pose for a photo during a media day event at the K Hotel in southern Seoul on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

The Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers emerged as a strong contender at the 2024 KOVO Cup last month, beating the Jumbos in the final and winning the title for the first time in 11 years. But the Cup has rarely proven to be a particularly reliable portent for the coming season, so whether Cheonan can ride that success remains to be seen.

Seoul Woori Card Woori Won are also a team to watch out for the Jumbos. The club posed a threat to the Jumbos last season, narrowly missing the league title after finishing one point behind the Incheon side.

Fellow contenders Ansan OK Financial Group Okman, Suwon Kepco Vixtorm, Uijeongbu KB Insurance Stars and Daejeon Samsung Bluefangs are also up for a challenge to cut the trophy drought casued by the Jumbos.

Regular season, playoffs and championship

Both leagues will begin with a six-month regular season where the top three or four teams book tickets to the postseason consisting of playoffs and championship.

The league winners directly advance to the championship, while the runners-up and third-place teams play the playoffs to decide the side that reaches the championship.

In the event that the point gap between the third and fourth-place teams is three points or less, the two sides play a so-called semi-playoff to determine the team that advances to the playoffs to face the runners-up.

The opening day will see men’s reigning champions Jumbos face Okman in Incheon at 2 p.m. followed by a clash between women’s championships Hillstate and runners-up Pink Spiders in Suwon, Gyeonggi at 4 p.m.

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