Professional volleyball team Hyundai E&C swept GS Caltex to boost its chances of winning the regular season title.
Hyundai E&C swept GS Caltex 3-0 (25-19 25-21 25-23) in straight sets in the sixth round of the Dodram 2023-24 V-League Women’s Division at Suwon Gymnasium on Monday.
Moma (25 points) and Yang Hyo-jin (15 points) combined for 40 points. Yang became the first player in the V-League to reach 7500 career points (7503). The ‘tall’ Hyundai E&C also led in blocked shots with nine, far ahead of GS Caltex (three).
Thanks to a series of successful attacks from Jung Ji-yoon, Moma, Yang Hyo-jin, and Go Ye-rim, HCE won the first set without losing the lead.
In the second set, they were unable to stop Silva’s attack, but they also brought in Wipawi, who returned from a shoulder injury. Trailing 14-17, HMC rallied back with five consecutive points and secured the second set thanks to Yang Hyo-jin’s fast attack and Moma’s open attack.
HCE went down briefly at the start of the third set, but after a block by Jung Ji-yoon and a fast break by Lee Da-hyun, Yang Hyo-jin became the first player in the V-League to reach 7500 points and tied the match.
After repeatedly falling behind GS Caltex by two or three points before rallying to tie the set, HMC made it 20-18 on a Yang Hyo-jin kill and Moma block. The lead was never relinquished. At 24-23, Moma’s back-attack sealed the victory.
With the third consecutive win on the whistle, Hyundai E&C has accumulated 72 points (24 W-7 L) with five games remaining until the end of the regular season, widening the gap between them and second-place Heungkuk Life (24 W-7 L/67 points) to ‘5’.
Their next match (March 2/Suwon Indoor Gymnasium) will be against third-place Jungkwanjang, who are riding a steep upward trend with five straight wins. Second-ranked Heungkuk Life, which Kim Yeon-kyung has been holding on to, also lost a shutout to Jeong Kwan-jang in their last match. It will be a big test for Hyundai E&C.
Before facing Heungkuk Life on March 12, Hyundai E&C will face Jung Kwan-jang, Korea Expressway Corporation, and IBK Bank. If Hyundai E&C, with its 토토 objective power advantage, can defeat Jung Kwan-jang, its chances of winning the title will be even better.
GS Caltex, on the other hand, is in danger of ending its ‘spring volleyball’ dream after three seasons.
Silva struggled, scoring 30 points, the most of any player in the field, but another ace, Kang So-hwi, managed just one point (7.14% attack percentage). GS Caltex’s downward spiral accelerated after the All-Star break when Kang So-hwi, the centerpiece of the team’s offense, fell into a deep slump. During Kang’s slump, GS Caltex only managed one win against Pepper Savings Bank in the fifth round.
The loss to Hyundai E&C widened the gap between them and third-place Jung Kwan-jang to eight points. The semi-playoffs (single-elimination) will be held if the difference in points between the third and fourth place teams is 3 or less, but given the current point differential and the conflicting moods of GS Caltex and Jung Kwan-jang, it seems very unlikely.