The first win we’ve been waiting for. Men’s professional volleyball Korean Air has recorded its first win over Woori Card since the start of the 2023-24 Dodram V League season.
Korean Air won the home match against Woori Card 3-0 in straight sets at Gyeyang Gymnasium in Incheon on Friday. Korean Air had lost their last three matches against Woori Card in the first three rounds.
However, today’s match was different. Three of their homegrown spikers stepped up. Lim Dong-hyuk, Jeong Ji-seok, and Jeong Jeong-yong scored 27, 12, and 9 points respectively, giving them the edge over Woori Card’s duo of Matej (Slovenia) and Kim Ji-han in the firepower matchup.
The win also helped Korean Air turn its fortunes around, snapping a two-game losing streak.
Korean Air head coach Tommi Tilikainen told the media after the match that he was pleased with the way the team served and received the ball, saying, “Our setter Han is an attacker and she put the ball up well for us to hit it comfortably.”
“We also did a good job defending and blocking against their main attacker,” Tilikainen said, adding, “We played strong volleyball, which is what we wanted to do in the previous match.” He also commented on the suspensions.
The game marked the first time that Jeong has been in the starting lineup since the start of the season. After returning to the court due to an injury, Jeong had not started until the last game and was mainly used as a substitute. Korean Air used Jung Jeong-yong as the starting outside hitter on this day.
“Actually, I didn’t make the decision to start them together,” Tilikainen said, “I decided to put them out there right before the game started. It was Jeong’s first start and he did relatively well,” he laughed.
As for Lim Dong-hyuk, he laughed again, saying, “I would give him a minus 10 out of 10 based on his performance today (May 5),” adding, “You should always try to play more and not be satisfied with the present.”