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Pink Spiders set club record with 11th straight win

Published: 02 Dec. 2024, 10:47 Updated: 05 Dec. 2024, 22:48

PAIK JI-HWAN
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The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders celebrate after a 3-0 win over the Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Sunday. [YONHAP]

The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders set a club record with their 11th consecutive win after defeating the Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers 3-0 on Sunday.

The Pink Spiders dominated the game at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju, winning the sets 25-22, 25-23 and 25-18 to move eight points clear at the top of the V League table.

The Pink Spiders have won all 11 matches in the 2024-25 campaign, cementing their dominance this season.

The duo of Kim Yeon-koung and Tutku Burcu once again proved pivotal to the win. Burcu led the game with 20 points, while Kim contributed 13.

The pair have been key players this season, with Kim ranking fifth on the league’s top scorers list with 214 points and Burcu in seventh with 203, as of press time.

Kim’s standout performance comes at the age of 36. The Korean volleyball icon extended her stay with the Pink Spiders this season after a disappointing 2023-24 campaign when the team failed to win any titles.

Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders outside hitter Kim Yeon-koung, right, attacks during a V League game against the Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Sunday. [YONHAP]

Last season, the Pink Spiders were unable to secure either the league or championship titles, which were swept by Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate.

If the Pink Spiders win the league this season, it would be their first title since the 2022-23 campaign, when head coach Marcello Abbondanza led the team to victory after taking over midseason.

Winning both the league and championship titles this season would be the team’s first double since the 2018-19 season and their first under Abbondanza. The Italian coach narrowly missed out on the championship title in the 2022-23 campaign.

For Kim, a championship title would be her first since 2009, prior to her overseas career. During her time with the Pink Spiders, Kim has won the league four times, in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2023, and the championship three times, in 2006, 2007 and 2009.

As for the Peppers, Sunday’s loss dashed their hopes of achieving a three-game winning streak for the first time. The Peppers, who set a V League record with 23 consecutive losses last season, have shown improvement this year, sitting in fifth place in the seven-team league with three wins from 11 games.

Gimcheon Korea Expressway Corporation Hi-Pass are currently struggling in sixth place with two wins, while GS Caltex Seoul Kixx are in last place with just one win.

The V League action continues this week with the Kixx facing Hillstate on Tuesday. Fourth-place Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks will meet Hi-Pass on Wednesday, followed by the Pink Spiders’ match against Hwaseong IBK Altos on Thursday.

The 2024-25 regular season runs through April, followed by the postseason, which includes playoffs and the championship series.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]