“I want to win. I don’t want to lose anymore,” said Lee Da-hyun, a Korean middle blocker.
Lee Da-hyun has won his fourth Taegeuk mark this year after the 2021-23 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) and the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games national team. Lee Da-hyun, who joined the 2021 VNL, where the golden generation including Kim Yeon-koung was active, feels a great sense of responsibility after the generational change.
After a generational change, the women’s volleyball team lost all games in the last VNL and was pushed to 40th place in the world rankings.
In February, the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) abolished the core national system, and the qualification to participate in the competition was newly established as a VNL participant in 2024, the winner of the volleyball challenger cup, and the team with the high world ranking from 2025 to 27. According to the changed operation policy, Korean women’s volleyball will not be able to participate in the competition from the following year if it ranks bottom in the VNL in 2025.
Therefore, this VNL has become a heavier and more important starting point for Korean women’s volleyball.
Meanwhile, the new coach Morales took the helm of the Korean women’s volleyball team after former coach Cesar, who was previously in charge of the women’s volleyball team.
Morales has elevated the Puerto Rican national team, which, like Korea, has weakened due to a generational change, to the current 16th in the world rankings. Expectations for the national team are also growing as a coach who led the team to success in the transition period of “generational change.”
Lee Da-hyun, who spoke with MHN Sports on the phone on the 25th, said, “I think we have our own style this year, so I hope we can show it on the court and I just want to win. I don’t want to lose anymore.”
He then confessed honestly what kind of efforts the women’s volleyball team is making at Jincheon National Training Center.
Hereinafter, Lee Da-hyun’s question and answer
- After the season, he was selected for the national team one after another and played volleyball all the time, so is it physically difficult?
“I’m not tired. I came back from two weeks off (to Jincheon National Training Center) and had a lot of events, so honestly, I couldn’t take much rest. So I’m a little tired, but maybe because I’m still young (laughs), I’m not physically tired, but I think I’m okay because I just got back after the championship.
- Is the shoulder injury you wore in the 22-23 season okay? How is your condition now?
In fact, it is difficult for an athlete to find a place that does not hurt. Each player has that level of injury. It is up to you to manage and control it so that you can continue to play and practice as much as possible so that you don’t have a day off. That’s why I’m constantly reinforcing myself.
- There are a lot of players who have been injured in the national team entry. How are the other players feeling?
There are some older sisters who are a little sick, but most of the original national team is a little sick. Anyway, everyone is trying to maintain the level to play.
- Morales is a new coach, but what is the different way to train than Cesar?
The style itself is much different than I thought. (Coach Morales) stresses our own colors. He always emphasizes that part because he is tall like a European team or other VNL players, or because he has good physical conditions, he always emphasizes that part so that he can create more offensive situations.
Suppose, for example, that if an opponent hits 10, he or she gets 5 points, and if we hit the same 10, our physical conditions are (relatively) bad, so the attack success rate is inevitably a little low. So, rather than hitting 10, they say that you have to hit 15 or 20 more than that to score the same amount of points.
That’s why I’m practicing so that I can create a lot of situations where I can attack. If you hand a little difficult ball to the opponent’s court, you’ll be hit back right away. Therefore, rather than handing it over right away, it becomes blocked (effective) and plays rebound to increase the number of offense strokes. Then, he emphasizes that even if the attack efficiency decreases, the game can be even better because he takes more pars. I’m practicing a lot on that part.
- Then, are you paying a lot of attention to the defense?
That’s right. We have to defend and fight back anyway. He stressed a lot today that we should never see or eat in defense or just give easy balls like other Asian teams because we can’t beat our opponents due to our physical conditions. We really need to be better at defense than foreign countries, and we are trying to increase the number of strokes by making the connection more accurate after the defense.
- Coach Morales mentioned at a press conference on the 25th that he is trying to pursue low and fast volleyball?
I 100% agree. When you play with foreign teams, your set play is often lower than ours. But I don’t think there is any way to win if we get higher, so I think we should set a lower style and match it even if it doesn’t fit.
Since the blocking is slow, you can aim more in between. But when the ball is high, the higher the blocking is perfectly followed. There is no way to break it (in international games).
- Director Morales Emphasized the Importance of ‘Communication’, How?
After the training, the coach said, “If you have any questions or want to communicate with us, you can come and tell us anytime.” In fact, if players have any questions, they are asked right away.
- There are quite a few new players who have joined the national team this time, how is the team atmosphere?
In fact, I’ve lost a lot in the national team so far, and I’ve been coming in for almost four years in a row, but I actually let go of my expectations a little bit and came in this year. I didn’t have much hope, so I let go (empty) to a certain extent, and the coach seems to be very good and I feel like he’s trying to communicate with me when I give feedback. It’s also good because a lot of young players come in and try to work hard together.
- How is the national team coach Morales different from his team (Hyundai Engineering & Construction) coach Kang Sung-hyung?
After my first practice with a foreign coach (Morales), I thought he was a little similar to his team coach (Kang Hyung-sung).
- What kind of play do you personally care about after joining the national team?
All of the middle blockers, including myself, are practicing blocking and improving their decision-making power. Since the generation change, middle blockers have fallen a lot when they go to international competitions. Last year’s (blocking) number fell a lot, and effective blocking fell a lot compared to the other team. Middle blockers think blocking is the priority, so I want to supplement blocking first. Since there are no foreign players after that, we have to take responsibility for both offensive distribution and decision-making power. So there is a goal to take more offensive decision-making power from the center.
- Ahead of the VNL in May, what are your goals and personal goals for the national team?
If I go out this year, I’ve been in the VNL for 4 years, but I’ve lost so much so far that I want to beat teams that can win. I think we’ve got our own style this year, so I hope we can show it on the court. I just want to win. I don’t want to lose anymore.
My personal goal is, as I said earlier, I want to make more attack decisions and block.
- Who’s your roommate in the national team? 스포츠토토
At Jincheon National Training Center, he shares the room with (Jung) Ho-young (MB, Jeonggwanjang) and overseas with Moon Ji-yoon (OP, GS Caltex).
- The existing national university No. 12 Moon Jung-won is missing, so are you going to use the No. 12 used by your team or the No. 14 handed down by Yang Hyo-jin?
I got my original number, number 12, back (laughs)
- Jung Ji-yoon (Hyundai E&C) stayed with the club after receiving his first FA, so Hyun Mi-sam (Kim D-in, Jung Ji-yoon, Lee Da-hyun) could continue to be with him. What did you talk about with Jung Ji-yoon? Was there any persuasion from (best friend) Kim D-in?
I don’t know if Dain’s contribution was great or not. Anyway, Jiyoon was too busy. I kept having meetings with my team until the evening, and I was busy because I had a lot of contact with them, so I couldn’t get in touch well. Because of that, I don’t think I said ‘I wish I could do this’ very often. Because actually, this is what you decide, and I don’t think you said that much. I think I only talked to my sister about how things were going.
- Do you have any goals for the next season?
It’s still too far (until next season), so I think I’ll do the national team first now and think about it afterwards. I don’t think I have any specific goals for next season yet.
- I have delivered my goal to win an individual award in the upcoming season. Is the goal still there?
It would be great if I could get a Best7 award since it’s a huge honor for me personally, but I don’t think I’ve set my goals first as “Best7 for this season.” I tend to put more weight on developing my play style and don’t like to set results-based goals. I always had a hard time chasing after it.
- What is the ultimate goal that you want to reach as a volleyball player, Lee Da-hyun?
First of all, I want to do well in international competitions. In addition, I want to utilize techniques that I did well in international competitions in Korea. I want to play a difficult game in which I can connect fastballs by playing with setters even with balls that are slightly shorter than the time difference. Anyway, it will take years, but I want to do some of those things. I have a goal that I want to play creatively, not just volleyball that has been set in the framework.
