Park Jung-ah, Moon Ji-yoon combine for 23 points as Korea women’s volleyball falls to Thailand 0-3
‘We fought hard, but…’ A fourth consecutive defeat and a scoreline of 0-3.
The Korea Women’s National Team, coached by Cesar Hernández González, concluded the first week of the 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) organised by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).
There were no upsets, as the ‘Gonzalezes’ fell 0-3 (17-25 26-28 21-25) in straight sets to Thailand in their final match of Week 1 of the 2023 VNL in Antalya, Turkey, on 4 April. South Korea failed to win a single set against all of their opponents in Week 1, losing to Turkiye, Canada, USA and Thailand. They came away empty-handed.스포츠토토
Korea was led by Park Jung-ah (Pepper Savings Bank) with a team-high 14 points, Moon Ji-yoon (GS Caltex) with nine, and Lee Ju-ah (Heungkuk Life Insurance) and Jung Ho-young (KGC Ginseng Corporation) with 15, but could not get past Thailand. Moksri Chatchuon led the Thai attack with a game-high 20 points.
Kokram Pimpichaya and Uekjang Thadao followed with 13 and 11 points respectively. Thailand put pressure on the Korean defence with the passing (toss) work of setter Ponpun Gedpard, who was drafted by IBK for the Asian quarter and will make his V-League debut in the 2023-24 season.
Korea pulled to within 16-17 midway through the set with Park leading the attack, but lost momentum when attempts by Jung Jeong-yoon (Hyundai E&C) and Lee Ju-ah were blocked. A fastball from Jung Ho-young and a spike from Kang So-hwi (GS Caltex) were blocked by Thailand, and the Koreans lost the first set.
The match went to a second set, just like the previous day against the USA. Korea stayed close to Thailand until late in the set, with Jung Ho-young’s fastballs working well and Kim Mi-yeon (Heungkuk Life) helping out on serve.
For the Koreans, service errors proved costly. At 23-22, Kang So-hwi and Moon Ji-yoon each dropped their serves when facing set point at 24-23 and eventually gave the set back to Thailand after a deuce. At 26-27, Pyo Seung-joo’s (IBK) attack was blocked by Thailand.
Korea had a good start to the third set. However, Thailand increased their lead as Wipawee Sittong, who will join V-League Hyundai E&C for the Asian Quarterfinals alongside Ponpun, joined the attack. Korea was unable to close the gap due to a late set error and the match ended in three sets in favour of Thailand.
After Week 1, Korea will now travel to Brazil. They will face Brazil (15th), Japan (16th), Croatia (17th) and Germany (19th) in Week 2 in Brasilia.