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Daejeon's Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi breaks 1,000-point milestone in V League

Published: 08 Dec. 2024, 13:38

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks outside hitter Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi attacks during a V League game against the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Nov. 12. [YONHAP]

Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks' outside hitter Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi surpassed the 1,000-point mark in a V League game against Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass on Saturday, becoming the first Asia Quota pick to reach the milestone.

Megawati scored 25 points in the 3-1 win over Hi-Pass at Gimcheon Gymnasium in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang, ending the game with 1,010 points in the V League.

The stats make the Indonesian outside hitter the only Asia Quota pick with over 1,000 points.

Her historic stats come in just her second season with the Red Sparks. The player joined through the Asia Quota — a system adopted in 2023 through which V League teams can add an additional foreign player from selected Asian countries.

Megawati, 25, has showcased emphatic attacking power since joining the squad, scoring 736 points in 35 league games as the team’s top scorer in the 2023-24 season.

That remarkable performance allowed the Red Sparks to finish in third place and reach the postseason for the first time since the 2016-17 campaign, although the team ended their run in the playoffs after losing to eventual championship runners-up Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders.

Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks outside hitter Megawati Hangestri Pertiwi, right, attacks during a V League game against the Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Dec. 24, 2023. [YONHAP]

Her impact was also visible off the court last season, as more Indonesian volleyball fans started to attend the Red Sparks’ games in person to watch her play.

The Red Sparks’ Instagram saw a big increase in the number of followers along with her popularity, with follower numbers reaching over 340,000 as of Sunday — compared to about 20,000 in July last year.

Megawati’s contribution also saw her re-sign with the Red Sparks for the 2024-25 season, where she has scored 274 points so far. She sits in third place on the top scorer list as of Sunday.

Her performance has helped the Red Sparks secure wins, but the club has seen an up-and-down run this season, with seven wins from their opening 13 games to sit in fourth place on the seven-team table.

The remainder of the season will see whether the Red Sparks can pull off a stronger performance than last season, possibly ending their league title drought that has lasted since the 2011-12 season. It was in this season that they swept both the league and championship titles.

The 2018 Korea Volleyball Federation Cup remains the Red Sparks' last piece of silverware.

The Red Sparks need to finish in third or fourth place to book a ticket to the postseason.

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

In the event that the points gap between the third and fourth-placed 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.

Winning either the league or championship title will make Megawati the first Indonesian player to achieve the feat, as she is the first Indonesian player to play in the V League.

The Red Sparks will next face defending champions Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate in Daejeon on Thursday.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]