The Hyundai Capital Skywalkers narrowly missed out on their first win of the season thanks to a critical error by Cai Pei-Chang (22) in the fifth set.

The Skywalkers lost the first round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League Men’s Regular Season with a set score of 2-3 (25-22, 22-25, 25-20, 25-27, 15-17) at Ansan Sangroksu Gymnasium on April 31.

With the loss, Hyundai Capital suffered its fifth straight defeat and remained at the bottom of the league with a 0-5 record (2 points). OK Financial Group, on the other hand, won the last four and five sets in a deuce tiebreaker to take two points and move up to third place with a 3-1 record (7 points).

It was a nail-biter as last-place Hyundai Capital fought for their first win of the season. Hyundai Capital had two chances to seal the win. However, as the 28-40 scoreline shows, the game was won and lost in the hitting department.

In the first and third sets, Jupo Heo Su-bong and Ahmed Iqbairi scored evenly to take a 2-1 lead in the set despite many unforced errors. In the fourth set, Pei Chang’s fast break broke the 20-point barrier and Choi Min-ho’s block followed by a quick opener from Heo Soo-bong gave Hyundai a 22-21 lead, but OK Financial Group’s Song Hee-chae scored a one-man show in the closing minutes to send the match to a fifth set. Hyundai Capital had match point at 24-24 deuce, but Ahmed’s back-attack was blocked by Song Hee-chae. Song Hee-chae quickly slammed home another Fei Chang winner to make it 26-25. She then helped Bayarsaihan block Ahmed’s attack to win the fourth set in dramatic fashion.

With both teams’ offense at its peak, the fifth set went down to the wire. This time, Hyundai Capital had another match point at 14-13 when Pei Chang scored on a fast break. However, the play was incomprehensible. Jeon Kwang-in’s spike serve was picked up by Song Hee-chae on the other side, and Ahmed went straight for it. At this point, Pei Chang jumped with Ahmed to interrupt the attack, resulting in a 14-14 deuce. Ahmed made a quick diagonal attack to regain match point, but Pei Chang’s serve went wide and Heo Soo-bong made a net touch error to give OK Financial Group match point. Hyundai Capital missed the chance to win the match for the first time as Lee Hyun-seung made a set error.

With a game-high 30 points, Leo (OK Financial Group) became the second player in the V-League to surpass 4,500 career offensive points after Park Chul-woo (KEPCO). Song Hee-chae supported Leo with 17 points and Shin Shin-jin with nine, while Bayarsaihan contributed seven points, including five blocked shots.

Hyundai Capital, on the other hand, was led by Ahmed with 25 points, Heo Su-bong with 16 and Choi Min-ho and Jeon Kwang-in with 13, but fell short of their first win. Pei Chang also scored in double figures with 11 points, but a costly mistake left him in tears.

On the women’s side, Heungkuk Life, led by the duo of Kim Yeon-kyung and Jelena Mrazenovic, handed undefeated GS Caltex its first loss of the season and moved to the top of the women’s division.

Heungkuk Life earned a 3-0 (25-22, 26-24, 25-23) shutout win over GS Caltex in straight sets in the first round of the V-League Women’s Division at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul.

Yelena had 19 points and Kim Yeon-kyung 18 to combine for 37 points, while Asia quarterback Reina Tokoku had eight points, including two blocks, in the win. GS Caltex responded with 19 points from Giselle Silva and 14 from Kang So-hwi, but were outrebounded 22-11.

The deciding set was the second. It was Heungkuk Sinsung who first reached the 20-point mark in a tightly contested game, but kills from Silva and Kang So-hwi, followed by a service ace from Han Soo-jin, gave GS Caltex a 22-21 lead. However, Kim Yeon-kyung blocked Silva’s quick opener and Park Soo-yeon added a service ace to bring the score back to 23-22.

Here, Kim’s presence shone once again. Kim’s timed attack 메이저사이트 gave Heungkuk Life a set point, and when Silva’s back attack was blocked by Reina with Yelena, the team dramatically won the second set.

In the third set, with the lead at 22-20 after a block by Kim Soo-ji, Kim Yeon-kyung created match point with a quick open followed by a staggered attack, which she followed with another staggered attack to complete the shutout win.