After snapping a 12-game losing streak, men’s professional volleyball team KB Insurance rode the momentum to its first back-to-back wins of the season.
KB Insurance defeated Korean Air with a set score of 3-1 (23-25 31-29 25-22 25-22) in the men’s visiting match of the Dodram 2023-2024 V League at Gyeyang Gymnasium in Incheon on Tuesday.
KB Insurance, which had previously snapped a 12-game losing streak with a win over OK Financial Group, continued its upward trend by catching second-place Korean Air.
KB Insurance moved to 13 points (3-12), level on points with sixth-place Hyundai Capital (13-3-11), but the team was outclassed in terms of set points, which held them back.
Korean Air, on the other hand, fell to its first three-game losing streak of the season after dropping its last two matches to leaders Woori Card and then being swept by last-place KB Insurance.
The game came down to an apogee spiker battle between Andres Villena (registered name Villena-KB Insurance) and Lim Dong-hyuk (Korean Air).
Villena exploded for a season-high 43 points (68.33% attack percentage), including 20 from behind the arc, to lead his team to victory.
Lim Dong-hyuk fought back with a career-high 42 points (66.10% attack success rate), but came up short in the team’s loss.
Korean Air’s 33 team errors, which far outnumbered KB Insurance’s 18, were a disappointment.
After dropping the first set, KB Insurance evened the set score with a hard-fought 31-29 win in the second set.
From 16-16 in the second set, it was a seesaw game with Korean Air taking a one-point lead and KB Insurance following suit.
After entering the deuce, the teams traded points with neither team scoring consecutive points.
It was KB Insurance that broke the tide first.
Hwang Seung-bin blocked Kwak Seung-seok’s attack at 27-27 to give his team the lead.
Then, at 29-29, Korean Air’s Jeong Jung-yong’s quick open was pushed away and KB Insurance’s Hong Sang-hyuk made the push.
Korean Air held the lead until midway through the third set, but a flurry of unforced errors allowed them to come back.
Down a point at 19-16 on a Han service error, Korean Air tied the set after a Bijena opener and an attack error by Jeong Jung-yong.
Then, at 21-22, Han lost a fastball toss and Lim Dong-hyuk wasted a set point when he touched the net on the landing after an attack.
KB Insurance took a 25-point lead with a back-attack from Bijena.
Tirelessly, Bijena contributed 13 points (85.71% attack success rate) in the fourth set to keep her team on a winning streak.
KB Insurance broke the tie at 22-22 in the fourth set with a late attack from Bijena, and a quick opener from opposing setter Jeong Ji-seok hit the net for match point.
At 24-22, the Korean blocked a quick opener from Jung Jeong-seok to end the match. 파워볼