Kim Yeon-koung caps off career with Pink Spiders 3-2 championship win over Red Sparks
Published: 09 Apr. 2025, 10:33
Updated: 09 Apr. 2025, 17:25
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- PAIK JI-HWAN
- [email protected]
![The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders celebrate winning the 2024-25 V League Championship at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on April 8. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/09/40b5e629-814f-429e-9d16-ea744efe6748.jpg)
The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders celebrate winning the 2024-25 V League Championship at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on April 8. [YONHAP]
The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders captured a 3-2 win over the Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks in the fifth game of the 2024-25 V League Championship series on Tuesday, sweeping both the league and championship trophies in the final chapter of Korean volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung’s storied career.
Tuesday’s final game at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon was to decide whether the Pink Spiders would avoid repeating the disgraceful feat the team saw against Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass in the 2022-23 season during which they became the first team to lose the championship after winning the first two games of the best-of-five series.
The Pink Spiders nearly repeated that result, with the club taking the game all the way to a fifth set after winning the first and second sets, both 26-24, and losing the third set 26-24 and fourth set 25-23.
But the league winners bounced back in the final, deciding set to grab it 15-13, ending the season finale with the coveted championship trophy on top of their regular season title.
Kim was key to the Pink Spiders’ dramatic victory, scoring the most points on her team at 34 and winning the championship MVP in the process.
The Pink Spiders’ successful run this season capped off Kim’s retirement in style.
Kim, 37, announced earlier this season that she would fully retire at the end of the campaign after her 20-year career during which she rose to prominence by showcasing her talent not just in the V League but in multiple countries such as Turkey and China.
![The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders toss Kim Yeon-koung into the air after winning the 2024-25 V League Championship at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on April 8. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/04/09/4d9e8ca3-9215-4228-84a7-908b24b786cc.jpg)
The Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders toss Kim Yeon-koung into the air after winning the 2024-25 V League Championship at Incheon Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on April 8. [NEWS1]
She was also an integral part of the Korean national team during their 2012 and 2020 Olympics runs, leading the team to the semifinals on both occasions.
The volleyball star ends her V League career with five league titles — in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2023 and 2025 — and four championship trophies in 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2025.
“I teared up a little at the end, but I didn’t cry my eyes out," Kim said after Tuesday’s game. "I knew from the start of first game that it wouldn’t be easy. When we lost the third and fourth games, we faced a huge challenge, and I thought, ‘So this is the kind of adversity I have to face before retirement.’"
“I kept trying to overcome it, and we had a lot of conversations to build unity among the players. I’m grateful to my teammates for helping me finish things off in such an amazing way today. It feels like I'm retiring the way I always wanted to — lifting the championship trophy as I walk away. I had always imagined my final moment like this. I was always a bit disappointed that I couldn’t achieve it over the past four years, but now I get to retire with one more star added."
For the Pink Spiders, this season marks their fourth time sweeping both the league and championship trophies after having done so in 2006, 2007 and 2019.
The Red Sparks, meanwhile, saw their best finish in the V League since the 2011-12 season, when they claimed both titles. The club had failed to reach the championship until this campaign.
BY PAIK JI-HWAN [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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