‘Asian pride’ rewritten, the winning equation regained by the women’s volleyball team > News

The most notable aspect of this tournament is the strong survival instinct shown in the group stage and the unstoppable run toward the finals. The national team, led by Coach Sang-Hyun Cha, won 3-2 against Chinese Taipei in the final match of the group stage after a fierce battle that went down to a full set, securing a ticket to the semifinals with a perfect record of winning all five games. In particular, captain So-Hwi Kang's performance was unrivaled. She scored a whopping 28 points and played the role of a problem solver who dominated the court throughout the game. Although they faced a crisis in the beginning due to anxiety over receiving and Taiwan's irregular attacks, the players continued to raise their blocking wall and showed concentration to end the game. This road to victory served as an opportunity to strengthen the team's organizational strength and served as a decisive catalyst for regaining confidence on the international stage.

The Vietnam game in the semifinals was the biggest challenge of this tournament and a psychological battle where painful memories of the past had to be washed away. Korea had suffered a series of upset losses to Vietnam in recent major international competitions, including the 2023 Asian Volleyball Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games, and had been painfully evaluated as being on the decline, so the weight of this match was special. However, when the lid was opened, Korea completely avenged its previous defeat with a perfect set score of 3-0, completely breaking Vietnam's momentum. Although there was a lot of tension at the beginning of the game, coach Sang-Hyun Cha's appropriate player substitutions and bold tactical changes in the game paid off. Despite strong resistance from Vietnam, our players demonstrated an overwhelming performance by showing concentration and not giving up a single set.

If you analyze the game in detail, you can see the essence of 'total volleyball', where the entire team works together like a gear rather than relying on specific players. In the semifinals, Lee Ye-rim led the attack by scoring 19 points, the most for both teams, including 3 serve aces and 1 block, while Kang So-hwi and Na Hyun-soo also scored 14 points each to balance the attack. In particular, at the end of the third set, when Vietnam was down 18-20 and faced a crisis, setter Kim Da-in's consecutive serve aces turned the tide, which is considered the highlight of the game. This is an example that stands out not only for his strong attack, but also for his skill in calmly serving and blocking in crisis situations. This can be said to be a clear indicator of how strategically the Korean national team has overcome the downward trend and grown.

This tournament was also an important test for Korea to establish a new order in a situation where traditional Asian powers such as Japan, China, and Thailand were unable to participate due to the VNL schedule. Putting aside criticism that it had been pushed to the periphery of Asia, Korea stood at the final hurdle toward victory by defeating difficult opponents such as Taiwan and Vietnam one after another. In particular, the final against Taiwan, which meets again in three days, is expected to be another fierce battle for both teams, who remember the close battle in the full set in the group stage. Based on the data shown in the group stage and the experience of a complete victory in the semifinals, coach Cha Sang-hyun and the players are aiming for the championship trophy by refining their tactics in more detail. The results of this tournament will be an important milestone in determining what position Korean women's volleyball will occupy on the Asian stage in the future.