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Skywalkers lock in V League title, ending Jumbos' four-year reign

Published: 24 Feb. 2025, 16:22 Updated: 24 Feb. 2025, 17:45

PAIK JI-HWAN
[email protected]

The Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers celebrate winning the 2024-25 V League title at Jangchung Arena in central Seoul on Feb. 22. [NEWS1]

The Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers locked in the men's 2024-25 V League regular season title on Saturday, not only becoming the team to have won the title with the fewest games remaining at six, but also ending the long reign of the Incheon Korean Air Jumbos, which have claimed league trophies in the past four consecutive seasons.

This is not the end of the Skywalkers' season, however: The championship that awaits the league winners in the postseason offers a possible triple crown.

A championship victory would end the Jumbos’ dominance in that tournament, which it has won for the past four seasons.

The milestone would also cement head coach Philippe Blain's first season with the Skywalkers as his most successful yet. It would mark the first campaign in which the Cheonan side has won both the league and championship titles since 2005-06 as well as their third silverware of the season following the Korea Volleyball Federation Cup — a preseason tournament in which all seven V League teams compete — last September.

The Jumbos have troubled the Skywalkers on their road to the championship victory before, with the Incheon club beating the Skywalkers in the 2017-18 championship and stopping them from sweeping both the league and championship titles.

But the Skywalkers have a dominant attacking force to count on in the postseason in outside hitter duo Leonardo Leyva and Heo Su-bong, who played an integral part in the team’s winning run.

Cheonan Hyundai Capital Skywalkers outside hitter Leonardo Leyva attacks during a V League game against Seoul Woori Card Woori Won at Jangchung Arena in central Seoul on Feb. 22. [YONHAP]

Leyva has amassed 584 points as the No. 2 scorer in the league, while Heo has scored 501 points to place fourth on the list, contributing to the team’s 16-game winning streak this season in the process.

Head coach Blain has over a month of regular season games remaining to tune up his squad and form his best strategies for the championship, with the best-of-five series starting on April 1.

The head-to-head clash between the Skywalkers and Jumbos on March 2 in Incheon will be an opportunity to capitalize before a possible meetup in the championship.

The playoffs, or even the so-called semi-playoffs — which take place in the event that the point gap between the third- and fourth-place teams is three points or fewer — will precede the championship.

The Jumbos are in second place on the table with 57 points, with the Uijeongbu KB Insurance Stars sitting in third with 56 and Seoul Woori Card Woori Won in fourth with 40.

As all seven V League teams have six games left until the end of the season, Woori Won can still mathematically make the semi-playoffs happen and challenge for the championship title by collecting 18 available points in the remaining games.

The postseason can start as early as March 24 with the single game semi-playoff, followed by the best-of-three playoffs beginning on March 26. The championship could stretch as late as April 9.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]