The South Korean women’s volleyball team started its 2023 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) campaign with a loss.
The Korea Women’s National Team (ranked 24th in the world), led by head coach Cesar Gonzalez, suffered a shutout loss to Turkey (ranked seventh), 0-3 (14-25 17-25 24-26), in the first match of Week 1 of the 2023 VNL at the Antalya Sports Hall in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday.
After dropping the first two sets, South Korea fought back to level the match in the third set and went to deuce. They tried to shake the opponent’s serve with targeted shots and utilize various attack routes. Unlike the previous set, it was a close affair as Turkiye’s unforced errors continued. At 23-24 match point, the Korean captain attacked and went to deuce. However, she immediately made back-to-back errors to end the match.
Overall, it was a very close game. The attacking margin was almost double, 28-51. Jung Ji-yoon led the team with 10 points, followed by captain Park Jung-ah with six, Lee Ju-ah with four, and Pyo Seung-ju with three. The team’s reception was shaky, with a 1-4 record on serve and a 4-6 record on block. They committed 15 errors, fewer than their opponents (22).
South Korea, which is looking to rebound from a 12-match losing streak last year, has yet to put the pieces together. There were several times when the setters and attackers didn’t seem to be in sync, and there were times when the serve receive was poor and the connection after the dig was not clean. However, it was an accomplishment to try a variety of routes instead of just attacking on both wings, and to reach the last set deuce at home against a world power 토토사이트.
South Korea will play Canada (No. 14) at 11 p.m. on Feb. 2 in the second match of Week 1. Canada lost to Poland in their first match, 3-2.
Canada is considered to be a team to watch in the VNL, but they are no pushover for Korea at this point. Korea suffered its first loss against Canada last year after a 15-match unbeaten streak. After dropping the first set 21-25, they were shut out in games two and three, scoring only 13 and 16 points respectively.