He has returned from being the captain of the ‘leadership’ to a younger brother who now has reliable sisters. Shin Yeon-kyung’s face looked more comfortable when she returned to her former team.
Heungkuk Life Insurance will send middle blocker Kim Chae-yeon to IBK Industrial Bank of Korea and recruit Libero Shin Yeon-kyung on the 3rd. It also officially announced that it has agreed to give Pepper Savings Bank the right to nominate a rookie for the first round of the 2025-26 season and to receive the right to nominate a rookie for the second round of the 2025-26 season with setter Lee Go-eun.
For Shin, Heungkuk Life is a welcome former nest. Shin, who transferred to Heungkuk Life as Kim Sani’s compensation player in the 14-15 season, consistently maintained his team’s front and rear positions as an outside heater in defense. Since then, he transferred to IBK in the 20-21 season, completely changing his position to Libero, and took over the captain’s baton, showing good performance and leadership.
Although he sometimes encountered difficult moments due to knee injury issues, his presence became a strong support for the team from the rear.
Shin Yeon-kyung’s 23-24 season performance recorded a total of 96 sets in 25 games based on the regular league, 41.55% overall receiving efficiency, and a dig average of 5.27.
MHN Sports met and talked with Shin at a training ground in Yongin on the 18th. After a trip to Thailand with Pyo Seung-joo (currently the president of the government office), Ponpoon, and Abercrombie, who had made friends at IBK, Shin took a good rest and joined with her family.
“Currently, we are focusing on basic training and weight training,” Shin said. “Overall, my physical condition is similar to that of this time last year. I am building up my body according to the season (entry).” 밤알바
Shin Yeon-kyung, who was playing with the weight of an underbar in the previous team, returned to the middle train this season with the logo of Heungkuk Life Insurance on her chest again.
“I feel comfortable because I have my sisters. I am mentally dependent,” he said with a smile. “I went back to the middle, so I think I just need to listen to my sisters and lead my juniors well. When I put on the captain’s underbar, I had to lead by example first, so the boys followed me. Also, when the season starts and the game ends, I wondered if it was because I wasn’t leading well, but now it’s much better because I only have to pay attention to what I’m going to do.”
Shin Yeon-kyung’s confidence can be seen as a so-called “super dig” that does not save his body in name and reality. Although the risk of injury is large, the appearance of running fiercely to the ball beyond the sub-zone often creates a highlight.
“I run with the intention of saving my ball no matter what,” Shin said. “I have to save my ball no matter what, so that my team can attack. I run without thinking about (my injury). If I do it, I can make sure that I don’t get hurt even if I run into it. Anyone can practice, and that’s all I need.”
There are now two “Yeonkyung” in the team. Kim Yeon-koung and Shin Yeon-koung. For this reason, even when Shin was recruited, “Two Yeon-koung” can act as a kind of marketing to respond to fans. Shin’s former team is Heungkuk Life Insurance, but he had no experience working with Kim the other day.
When asked about Kim Yeon-koung’s ball that she received from over the net, she said, “I think I have to get (Kim Yeon-koung’s) ball somehow. My sister is more than 50 percent of Heungkuk Life’s total. When I reach the 20 point mark, my ball only goes up to my sister, and I have to get it somehow.”
“At that time, analysis was conducted mostly on Yeon-koung. In fact, each player has a specific course of hitting. But there was no course that Yeon-koung didn’t hit. For example, there are players who hit 80 percent of the time with crosses and 20 percent with straight hits. But Yeon-koung hits everything.”
She also explained the tricky part about the ball. “Attacks usually wind up the rotation. But since she is so tall, she has balls that come in suddenly without winding (the rotation) up,” she said. “When the ball receives, it stands out quite a bit. It is hard to get a ball that spikes and hits her with a spike when the ball is close to her, or hits her long at corner 5.”
Finally, he said to fans who will visit Samsan Gymnasium to watch “Two-Yeonkyung”, “There are two ‘Yeonkyung’, and the fans asked me for nicknames,” adding, “I hope you can give me a good nickname (laughs). Samsan Gymnasium, which I see, has always been full of fans. I can’t guarantee that I will show you a winning game, but I will do my best to win every game.”
