Momo, will show us "I'm going to show you
Momo, will show us "I'm going to show you
Blog Article
Starting with the match against Germany on the 5th, 12 games will be played in three countries
On April 8, the women's team of the V League 2024-2025 season ended with the fifth championship of the Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders amid much interest from volleyball fans. The 2024-2025 season recorded 1.22% of regular league viewership and 1.73% of postseason viewership, up 0.03% from the 2023-2024 season with an integrated average viewership of 1.25. The total number of spectators was 341,057, overwhelming 257,159 in the men's team, proving the high popularity of women's volleyball once again.
After finishing the season, women's volleyball, which has completed the FA market, Asian quarter and foreign player draft, will participate in the 2025 International Volleyball Federation Volleyball Nations League (VNL) from June. The Korean women's volleyball team, led by head coach Fernando Morales, will travel to Istanbul, Turkiye, and Chiba Prefecture, Japan, starting with the first week's schedule in Laude Janeiro, Brazil, on the 5th (Korea time).
Of course, as long as they participate in international competitions with the national flag on their chest, the national team's biggest goal should be to do their best in each game and win as many wins as possible. However, the realistic goal of the Korean women's volleyball tournament, in which Kim Yeon-koung's global ranking has dropped to 35th due to weak international competitiveness after retirement, is to avoid the lowest place with two wins. Will the Morales team be able to find hope for Korean women's volleyball through this VNL match.
Kim Yeon-kyung's dark age came after retiring from the national team
South Korea's women's volleyball team had its best year since 1976 Montreal Olympics bronze medal when world-renowned outside heater Kim Yeon-kyung played as the ace of the national team. In fact, South Korea's women's volleyball team advanced to the semifinals for the first time in 36 years by beating volleyball powers such as Serbia, Brazil and Italy at the 2012 London Olympics, when Kim Yeon-kyung was named the MVP of the tournament with her performance close to a one-man show, and also succeeded in reaching the semifinals again at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
However, after the Tokyo Olympics, three of Korea's main players, including Kim Yeon-koung, middle blocker duo Kim Soo-ji (Hungkuk Life Insurance) and Yang Hyo-jin (Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate), retired from the national team. In addition, Coach Stefano Lavarini (Poland coach), who led the team to the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympics, also left Korea. South Korea appointed Cesar Hernandez as Lavarini's replacement, but Hernandez failed to prevent the fall of Korean women's volleyball.
South Korea failed to play its role in the national team as Kim Hee-jin (Hyundai Engineering & Construction), who expected to become a new pillar of the national team after the retirement of Kim Yeon-kyung, Kim Soo-ji and Yang Hyo-jin, suffered a knee injury. "Clutch Park" Park Jung-ah (Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers), who was in charge of the left side of the national team along with Kim Yeon-kyung, also could not withstand the weight of the ace in the national team without Kim Yeon-kyung and Kim Hee-jin, and the late replacement of the generation of setter and libero was also a problem.
In the end, South Korea ended up winning just three sets from 12 matches in the 2022 VNL tournament, Hernandez's first international competition, receiving a humiliating report card of zero points from all 12 losses. South Korea also edged out Croatia in the final match after losing four straight group games to 0-3 in the ensuing world championships. It was a humbling performance, hard to believe for a team that had reached the semifinals twice in the last three Olympics.
South Korea also won just three sets in 12 games in the 2023 VNL, receiving a shameful result of losing all games and zero points in winning percentage for the second consecutive year. South Korea was eliminated from the quarterfinals after being caught by Vietnam in the Asian Championship that followed, and failed to win a medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games for the first time in 17 years. Eventually, Hernandez was dismissed after the Hangzhou Asian Games after being stigmatized as a coach who left the "worst dark age in the history of Korean women's volleyball."
Target to stay in VNL with at least 2 wins
The women's volleyball team, which Morales took over as coach in March last year, lost three consecutive games starting from the beginning at the 2024 VNL competition, falling into the mire of 30 consecutive VNL losses. However, the team escaped from a long VNL loss of 30 consecutive games by beating Thailand 3-1 on May 30 last year. After winning the match against Thailand, Korea lost five consecutive games again, but won the match after a full set match against France on June 13 last year, finishing the tournament in 15th place among the 16 participating countries with two wins and 10 losses.
The Korean women's volleyball team was called up to Jincheon Training Center on April 15 after the V-League was over and began to quench for the 2025 VNL. In particular, Lee Go-eun, Jung Yoon-ju, Moon Ji-yoon (Heungkuk Life), Jung Ho-young and Lee Sun-woo (Jeong Kwan-jang Red Sparks), who participated in the championship, joined the national team immediately after less than a week of rest after the season. The realistic goal of Morales and the national team is to win more than two wins and stay in the VNL stage next year.
Except for Han Da-hye Libero (Pepper Savings Bank) and Lee Go-eun setter, there are no players in their 30s in this year's national team. Kim Se-bin and Kim Dae-eun setter (Korea Expressway Corporation High Pass), who are less than 20 years old, have been selected for the national team, while Park Jeong-ah, who has played as a backbone for the national team for more than 10 years since the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, has been excluded from the national team. This shows Morales' commitment to change the generation of Korean women's volleyball. 안전놀이터
A large number of young players were included, but in the end, mid- to late-20s players should play the main role of the national team in this VNL competition. In particular, it is important for the three setters of the national team, including Kim Da-in (Hyundai Engineering & Construction), to actively utilize middle blockers such as Lee Da-hyun (Hungkuk Life Insurance), Jung Ho-young (Director Jeong), and Lee Ju-ah (IBK Industrial Bank Altos). However, outside heater Jung Ji-yoon (Hyundai Engineering & Construction), who suffered a fatigue fracture, cannot play in the first week.
This VNL is important for the competitiveness and future of the Korean women's volleyball team, but it is also expected to be a very important competition for the success of the upcoming V-League in the 2025-2026 season. If junior players fail to show the potential and potential of Korean women's volleyball through international competition after Kim Yeon-kyung, who occupied an absolute position in the women's box office, retired, the support and interest of volleyball fans who have been pouring into women's volleyball can also be greatly reduced.