Hyundai Engineering & Construction wins the first game of the championship with a reverse sweep.
In women's professional volleyball, Hyundai Engineering & Construction succeeded in taking the lead by capturing the first game of the championship match.
In the first game of the 2023-2024 V-League Women's Championship (3 wins out of 5) held at Suwon Gymnasium on the 28th, Hyundai Engineering & Construction gave up the first two sets to Heungkuk Life Insurance, led by the 'double performance' of Moma Basoko (Cameroon) and Yang Hyo-jin. He displayed his strength to win three sets and won 3-2 (18-25 14-25 25-20 25-20 16-14). With this victory, Hyundai Engineering & Construction took the advantage of winning the championship for the first time in eight years since the 2015-2016 season.
However, out of the 17 women's championships held in history, the team that won the first game has won the championship 9 times, and the probability is only 52.94%. This shows that there is great uncertainty in women's volleyball. Last season, Heungkuk Life Insurance had a 100% chance of winning by winning both the first and second games, but lost three games and fell victim to an unprecedented reverse sweep loss.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which had not played a game since the Pepper Savings Bank match on the 16th due to being ranked first in the regular league and went straight to the championship game, struggled until the second set. Heungkuk Life Insurance shook Hyundai Engineering & Construction's receive with a strong serve from the first set. Hyundai Engineering & Construction’s second set receiving efficiency dropped to 8.33%. In the end, Hyundai Engineering & Construction was on the verge of a shutout loss with a set score of 0-2, giving up 9 blocks and 4 serve points through the second set.
However, the power of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, ranked first in the regular league, was shown from the third set. From the 3rd set, the rhythm of the game was restored like a ghost, and the opponent's attack was persistently increased, and MoMA took care of this. MoMA, who adjusted her offense by scoring 8 points in the 3rd set, scored a whopping 12 points in the 4th set. MoMA's attack share in the 4th set reached a whopping 68.29%, so Hyundai Engineering & Construction openly gave the ball to MoMA, but Heungkuk Life Insurance's blockers were unable to stop it. Thanks to MoMA's outstanding performance, Hyundai Engineering & Construction won the 3rd and 4th sets, and the match was ultimately decided in the 5th set.
The 5th set went into a deuce match with both teams going back and forth. At 14-14, MoMA's strong serve went to Kim Yeon-kyung. The ball that Kim Yeon-kyung received fell in an unoccupied place, resulting in a serve score. After a rally at 15-14, the ball that Heungkuk Life's Willow hit with an open attack flew gently and fell outside the Hyundai E&C court, completing Hyundai E&C's reverse sweep victory.
MoMA, who scored a decisive serve ace in the 5th set, became the main contributor to the victory by scoring 34 points, the most of both teams, and Yang Hyo-jin also contributed by scoring 16 points, including 5 blocks, despite a neck injury. Heungkuk Life Insurance had a good triangle formation, including Kim Yeon-kyung (23 points), Willow (21 points), and Raina (20 points), but had to cry due to lack of support.
After the game, Hyundai Engineering & Construction coach Kang Seong-hyung said, “When we lost the second set, we wanted to win at least one set and lose, but our performance improved from the third set. “As it has been shown that we are clearly superior in terms of physical strength, we will push forward from the second game and lift the championship trophy,” he said.
Coach Marcello Abondanza of Heungkuk Life Insurance, the loser, said, “We had a chance to win with a 2-0 set score, but it seems like we missed a big opportunity.” “The choice was disappointing,” he said in his overall review of the game.
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