Kim Yeon-kyung scores 27 points, ‘hard carry’ Heungkuk Life Insurance, catches Jeong Kwan-jang without Yeom Hye-seon and succeeds in winning the 1st round (on-site review)

Sports | volleyball

(Sports Seoul | Incheon = Reporter Jeong Da-wo) Heungkuk Life Insurance succeeded in winning the first round.

Heungkuk Life Insurance won against Cheong Kwan Jang with a set score of 3-2 (24-26 25-18 25-21 24-26 15-10) in the last game of the first round of the Dodram 2024-2025 V-League Women’s Division held at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on the 12th.

Heungkuk Life Insurance won all six games in the first round. Although they went to the 5th set for the first time this season, they eventually won and secured 17 points. The first round ended with a three-point lead over second-place Hyundai Engineering & Construction (14 points).

Heungkuk Life Insurance was unable to finish the first set with a 23-20 lead and suffered a come-from-behind loss. Tutku and Jeong Yun-ju’s attack success rates were too low at 28% and 14%, respectively. Kim Yeon-kyung scored 4 points with a 57% success rate, but was unable to find her strength at the end and had a difficult start to the game.

In a situation where they could easily be shaken, Heungkuk Life Insurance reorganized its line from the second set and launched a counterattack. Kim Yeon-kyung led the victory by scoring 7 points with a 50% success rate in the second set alone.

Heungkuk Life Insurance, which succeeded in turning the situation around by winning the second set, won the third set relatively comfortably. They took the lead from the beginning, did not allow chase, and made the set score 2-1 with a wide margin. In the 3rd set, Tutku scored 7 points with a 55% success rate.

In the 4th set, it was a close match as Jeong Kwan-Jang’s blocking and defense came back to life. Heungkuk Life Insurance was in a difficult situation, trailing 17-20 in the second half of the fourth set. He showed great concentration at the end and took the game to a deuce, but failed to turn the tables and lost the 4th set.

In the final 5 sets, Heungkuk Life Insurance widened the gap from the middle in a close match in the early stages. Although Cheong Kwan-Jang’s pursuit was not easy, they quickly widened the gap to 13-9 and took the victory, and the game ended that way.

Kim Yeon-kyung led the team to victory by scoring 27 points, the most on the team. He scored the highest individual score this season and became a major contributor to the victory. Tutku contributed with 26 points. Jeong Yun-ju, who added strength with a last-minute attack, played the role of licorice with 9 points.

Blocking was also the driving force behind the victory. Against Cheong Kwan-Jang, who has a good height, he was ahead 14 to 9 in blocking. Tutku alone scored 7 blocking points. The sub-ace also had a 6-1 advantage.

On the other hand, Jeong Gwan-jang was unable to fill the void created by the absence of starting setter Yeom Hye-sun due to a knee injury. Kim Chae-na and Ahn Ye-rim took turns playing the role of commander, but they clearly showed weaknesses in toss accuracy and game management ability. To make matters worse, libero Nolan’s receiving was shaky, so the setters were unable to lead the game stably.

Bukirici scored 22 points and Mega scored 28 points, but it wasn’t enough.

Cheong Kwan-Jang finished the first round in 4th place with 3 wins, 3 losses, and 10 points. weo@sportsseoul.com