Hyundai Capital heated up the postseason race with a dominant victory in the first match of the sixth round to decide who will advance to the Spring Volleyball.
Hyundai Capital swept the visiting Korea Electric Power 3-0 (25-19 26-24 25-12) in straight sets in the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League Men’s Division at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, on Thursday.
With a 14-17 record and 44 points on the season, Hyundai Capital remains in sixth place, but has narrowed the gap to three points over third-place KEPCO (47-16, 15-15) and has begun the process of 메이저 토토사이트 overturning the standings.
In the V-League, the first-place team in the regular season goes directly to the championship game, while the second- and third-place teams meet in the playoffs.
If the third and fourth places are separated by less than three points, the two teams will play a semi-playoff single-elimination matchup to determine the playoff winner.
Libyan attacker Ahmed Iqbairi (real name Ahmed) led Hyundai Capital to a sweep with an explosive offense.
After leading the way in the first set with a pure nine-point performance, Ahmed was the “fixer” in the decisive second set.
Trailing 12-19, Hyundai Capital pulled within one point on a touch net error by KEPCO foreign attacker Tais Dul Host (real name Tais) before Ahmed’s high-flying slam.
After cutting the deficit to 16-19 thanks to a solo block by Ahmed and a fast break by middle blocker Choi Min-ho, Hyundai Capital pulled within 19-20 thanks to a spectacular open slam by Ahmed, who jumped almost in place, over KEPCO‘s blocking, and down the court.
Hyundai Capital was the winner of the ensuing battle. Ahmed roared back from a 25-24 set point with a cool back-attack, scoring 11 points in the second set alone.
Unlike KEPCO, which was unable to protect its seven-point lead in the second set, Hyundai Capital went on a 10-4 run early in the third set and never looked back.
Hyundai Capital finished the season with a 4-2 advantage against KEPCO.
Ahmed poured in 26 points, including six blocks, to lead the way in the win.
KEPCO lost the lead midway through the second set when Zupo Tice left the match due to a sore shoulder.
In the women’s match at Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon, Jung Kwan-jang defeated Heungkuk Saengsim 3-1 (25-23 25-22 25-27 25-23).
The four-match winning streak pushed Jung Kwan-jang’s win total to 53 (17 wins, 14 losses), eight points clear of fourth-place GS Caltex, and into third place.
Heungkuk Life, which could have moved into the lead with three more points on the day, ended its winning streak at ‘6’ and remained in second place, two points behind leader Hyundai E&C.
As the scoreline suggests, the two teams battled hard in every set.
Jung Kwan-jang was overturned on match point at 24-22 in the third set to force a fourth set, but Heungkuk Saengsang fought back to save the match point at 22-23 in the fourth set after Kim Yeon-kyung’s hard dig was missed by libero Do Soo-bin, who fumbled and lost the ball.
The firepower of Giovanna Milana (registered name Gia – 28 points), Megawatti Puttiwi (registered name Mega – 19 points), Lee So-young (10 points), and Jung Ho-young (12 points) was enough to defeat the Heungkuk Life trio of Kim Yeon-kyung (30 points), Willow Johnson (registered name Willow – 23 points), and Reina Tokoku (registered name Reina – 11 points).