9 points, 65% receiving efficiency, secret weapon Kim Sae-in card, coach Ko Hee-jin
Jeong Kwanjang is headed to Incheon.
Led by head coach Heejin Ko, Jung Kwanjang defeated Heungkuk Life 3-1 (25-19 25-23 20-25 25-15) in three sets in the second round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V League Women’s Playoffs against Heungkuk Life at Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon on Thursday.
Jeong Kwanjang, who lost the first game on Dec. 22, evened the series at 1-1 and will play the third game on Dec. 26 in Incheon to advance to the championship match.
No team in the history of the V-League Women’s Division has ever lost in the first round of the playoffs and advanced to the championship game. Jeong Kwan-jang is one win away from becoming the first to do so.
While Mega and Jia combined for 55 points, Hidden Card’s Kim Se-in contributed nine points. Kim filled the void left by Lee So-young with a stable performance in various aspects, including serving, receiving, defense, and connection. Most importantly, her reception efficiency was very high at 64.71%. Coach Goh’s mercenary tactics paid off. In addition, veteran Han Song-i, who started in place of middle blocker Jung Ho-young, also contributed to the effort.
After the game, Ko said, “I thought they would definitely prepare for Park Hye-min. When we changed the cards, I expected it to be chaotic. It’s not easy to cope with quick changes. Sein did a great job. She showed why we traded her today. I’m so grateful,” he said, praising Kim.
He continued, “After Lee So-young got injured, I had Park Hye-min, Lee Sun-woo, and Kim Se-sein focus on receiving. If they can receive, it’s our game. We practiced a lot. We found our rhythm because we worked so hard,” he added.
Regarding Hansong, Ko said, “It gives us a sense of stability in terms of connection. That’s why we need a veteran. It’s been a long time since Songi played, and she did a great job. In the first game, we struggled with connections. She played behind the scenes. I think we should think about whether to play her in the third game.”
After the final game in Incheon, Coach Ko said, “The home fans gave our players strength. We are grateful to them and hope they will come to Incheon. We will bring out our best and try to win. We will try for a miracle of 0%.”
Heungkuk Life, on the other hand, missed a chance to wrap up the series in Game 2 and will be traveling to Incheon again.
Heungkuk Life coach Abondanza said, “I want to talk about volleyball, but it’s not enough. I thought it would be difficult because it’s the home of Jeonggwanjang. We didn’t start with our focus,” and reflected on the difficult match.
It was disappointing that Willow, who played well in Game 1, only scored 11 points. “Willow didn’t play well,” Abondanza said. It was the same with the other players. Only Kim was good. We tried to take over the game, but the other players didn’t play well,” he said.
“I thought Jeong would make changes, but we didn’t adapt well to them,” Abondanza said, adding that Kim Sein Card made things difficult for the team.