Since the season’s opening, 14 consecutive wins have disappeared like a lie and a mirage. Already, two losses have been accumulated. Foreign player Tutku cannot come back for a while. Finding a good substitute is also not easy. Just a few days ago, the team seemed to have been in the lead-up to set a new record for the most consecutive wins in history, but in just two games, the team is now in a position to worry about a crisis. This is a story of Heungkuk Life in women’s professional volleyball.
On Oct. 19, Heungkuk Life played the opening game of the 2024-2025 V-League against Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the defending champion who suffered all three losses in the 2023-2024 season. The result was a 3-1 victory. Starting with the victory, Heungkuk Life won 14 games while on a roll.
“Volleyball empress” Kim Yeon-koung forgot her age and played an active part in offense and defense every game, while Tutku Bourge (Turkiye), who was selected as the last player in the tryout, overcame concerns and showed off her strong attack and blocking skills. Kim’s new outside heater partner Jeong Yoon-ju also performed her part, while Lee Go-eun and Shin Yeon-koung, who transferred to the team and secured the main setter and libero, also performed their part. Among the courts that Kim Soo-ji and Anilis Peach (New Zealand) guarded, she was also confident.
All the main players rolled well like precise cogs and won on the court. The wide gap in skills between the main and the backup was also not well revealed in the winning streak.
On the 17th, when the women’s record for the most consecutive wins (15 consecutive wins) was taken, the match against Jeonggwanjang was lost 1-3. What’s more painful is that Tutku left the court complaining of a knee injury at the end of the fourth set.
On the 20th, two days after the winning streak was broken, I met Hyundai Engineering & Construction on an away trip to Suwon. If I had beaten Jeong Kwan-jang, I would have challenged Hyundai Engineering & Construction, which set 15 consecutive wins twice in the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons, but I was not given that opportunity.
With his winning streak broken and Tutku, who was showing off his best side blocking ability in the same position, being absent, it was unlucky to meet a “rampant” Hyundai Engineering & Construction. There have been a flurry of anxiety. In all the 1, 2, and 3 sets, he lost without using any strength, and lost the game with a set score of 0-3. It is Heungkuk Life Insurance’s first consecutive defeat after 14 consecutive wins.
No matter how volleyball empress I am, Kim Yeon-koung was also a human being. Her team’s receiving efficiency in the first set amounted to 4.55 percent, forcing countless open attacks. Kim Yeon-koung, who ranks first in the success rate of open attack, was also shaken. The success rate of open attack in the first set was 12.5 percent (1/8). Kim’s overall success rate of attack in the first set was 16.67 percent. Her efficiency plummeted to -8.33 percent.
Her final score on the day was six points, attack success rate of 25 percent, and attack success rate of 25 percent. Before the match, she scored 13 points in the match against Pepper Savings Bank on January 1, and attack success rate of 38.10 percent in the match against Korea Expressway Corporation on April 7. She was far below her average.
The apogee position without Tutku was invalid. Kim Dae-eun and Choi Eun-ji tried Moon Ji-yoon, who recently joined GS Caltex in a trade, but it did not work. Choi Eun-ji was turned into an outside heater and Jung Yoon-joo was used as an apogee, but this tactic was also not very good.
Coach Marcello Avondaza also had a complete defeat after the game, saying, “There is nothing to discuss about volleyball today.” He added, “There is no excuse for not having a foreign apogit. You can lose a game, but you can’t lose with this attitude or this kind of performance.”
When asked if it was the aftermath of their consecutive wins, Avon Danza said, “You can see it that way, but today’s game had players on the court who didn’t usually play much. It was a game where you can see why they can’t step on the court very well.” 먹튀검증
The problem is that Tutku needs to be diagnosed accurately, but he will not be able to play for at least four to six weeks. Heungkuk Life Insurance’s front office has already begun searching for a substitute, but it is not easy to find a suitable player as it has to find a substitute player within the tryout participants. Willow Johnson, who was hired as a substitute last season, said, “I am satisfied with my life in the U.S.” He is contacting several players, but even if he is confirmed to be recruited, he will be issued a visa to a medical test. For the time being, he will have to deal with other teams with players who have played in modern construction.
There is a team that suddenly comes to mind. During the 2022-2023 season, Hyundai E&C won the opening 15 games in a row. However, Yasmin was eliminated due to injury after playing in 13 games. Although Yasmin was waiting for him by filling in his place with Hwang Yeon-ju, a native Apogit, he did not return to the team in the end. He hurriedly searched for foreigners and brought in Ibonne Montagno, but he was not good enough to replace Yasmin. Hyundai E&C, which had endured a long period of time without Yasmin, ran out of stamina for its native players, and eventually lost to Heungkuk Life Insurance to fall to second place even though it had maintained its No. 1 position in the regular league. The players felt a great sense of loss, and lost to KOC in the playoffs by losing all two games.
Will Heungkuk Life follow in the footsteps of Hyundai Engineering and Construction two years ago? Or will it be able to overcome the current crisis and maintain its lead position since the beginning of the season? This is why people are paying attention to Heungkuk Life’s future moves.
