South Korea’s women’s volleyball team continues its dismal 2023 VNL campaign with a loss to Canada.
The South Korea Women’s National Team (ranked 24th in the world), led by head coach Cesar Hernández González, fell to Canada (ranked 16th in the world) 0-3 (17-25, 16-25, 18-25) in the second match of the first week of the 2023 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) at the Antalya Sports Hall in Antalya, Turkey, on Tuesday. With the loss, South Korea continues the tournament on a two-match losing streak, while Canada earned its first win after two losses.
Canada was without Van Rijk and Jennifer Cross, its top scorers in last year’s 3-0 sweep of Korea at the VNL, but was led by Van Buskirk with 18 points, Alexa Gray with 11 and Hilary Howe with nine.
South Korea had eight points from Kim Mi-yeon, seven from Park Jung-ah, five each from Lee Da-hyun and Pyo Seung-ju, four from Lee Ju-ah, and three from Jung Jeong-yoon and Kang So-hwi, but it was not enough overall. They were outscored 35-45 in attacking, 2-11 in blocking, and 1-3 in serving.
South Korea started with apogee spiker Jung Jeong-yoon (3), outside hitters Park Jung-ah (4) and Kang So-hwi (1), middle blockers Lee Da-hyun (2) and Lee Ju-ah (5), setter Yeom Hye-sun (6), and libero Shin Yeon-kyung. Lee Da-hyun’s start was the only difference from the previous match in Turku.
Canada took the court first with outside hitter Hilary Howe (1), outside hitters Andrea Mitrovic (2) and Alexa Gray (5), middle blockers Van Buskirk (3) and Emily Maglio (6), setter Bree King (4), and libero Julia Merman.
A positional error at the start of the first set gave South Korea the lead. Canada tied the score with an attack from the right side by Alexa Gray.
In the early stages of the next set, Korea failed to score an open hit and fell behind 2-6 after a series of blocking and attacking errors. A positional fault made the score 2-7.
Korea responded with a left hit by Park Jung-ah and a move attack by Lee Da-hyun, followed by a right hit by Jeong Ji-yoon, but the score was still down by four points at 7-11. Jung’s next shot was blocked by Maglio.
In the middle of the set, after Park’s service error, Mitrovic scored on his opponent’s serve to make the score 10-17. Korea then scored attack points from Kang So-hwi and Lee Da-hyun, but could not close the gap any further and lost the lead completely.
Canada kept the momentum going with a fast break from Maglio followed by a block from Buskirk. South Korea seemed to fight back with a fast attack by substitute setter Kim Dain, but the set ended with an attack error by Kang So-hwi after an attack point by Buskirk. The score was 17-25.
Set two. South Korea started with setter Kim Dain. Outside hitter Kim Mi-yeon also took the court.
Kim’s first attack was blocked, but she scored a touchout in the ensuing rally. Lee Da-hyun’s block and Kim Mi-yeon’s left side hit gave South Korea a 3-1 lead. However, the Koreans were unfortunate to be called for two consecutive positional faults, which allowed them to take the lead.
Jung Jeong-yoon’s attack was blocked by a busker, and her next attack was missed. Korea took a 4-7 lead. Canada went on a 10-5 run with a double from Mitrovic and Hilary Howe.
It was a tough situation for Korea to get out of. Coach Cesar called for a timeout, but the gap widened as she was unable to receive a strong serve from her opponent Hilary Howe. Kim Mi-yeon was replaced by Pyo Seung-ju. Libero Moon Jung-won also took the court 토토사이트.
The score was reduced to 8-11 after back-to-back errors. However, Canada went ahead 15-9 with a block by Gray and an attack by Buskirk. For Korea, the mobile attack of Lee Ju-ah and Lee Da-hyun was the most obvious scoring route. However, they were limited in their ability to use it consistently.
Canada breezed to a 20-12 lead after Gray’s service ace and Hilary Howe’s right-side hit. The score was 25-16.
Set three. Korea started with outside hitter Moon Ji-yoon and middle blocker Park Eun-jin. Moon’s block and Pyo Seung-joo’s service ace gave Korea a 2-1 lead for the first time in a long time. Kim Mi-yeon’s three left-handed kills pushed the lead back to 6-5.
But it was all downhill from there. Canada showed off their power advantage as Maglio scored an attack goal after Buskirk and Gray to pull within 8-7, with Hilary Howe joining the scoring column.
After an attack error by Pyo Seung-ju, the Koreans regained the lead at 7-11 when Pyo’s subsequent attack was blocked by Maglio. Attacks by Park Eun-jin and Kim Mi-yeon failed to break through the blocking wall. The scoreboard indicated 9-15.
Korea seemed to close the gap with a solo block by Lee Da-hyun to make it 12-16. However, they were unable to close the gap any further as they were unprepared for the stinging attack of their opponent’s Brie King setter. A hard hit by Gray brought the score to 12-18.
A service error by Lee brought the score to 14-20. Canada scored another point on an attack by substitute Joseph and then went on to close out the match. Korea tried to close the gap with kills from Moon Ji-yoon and Kim Mi-yeon, but that was it. It was a disappointing end to the tournament for Korea, as they fell to Canada for the second time in as many years.
South Korea will play their third game against the United States at 11 p.m. on Wednesday.