'Kim Yeon-kyung's 21 points' Heungkuk Life defeats Jung Kwan-jang for 10th championship

Heungkuk Life defeated Jung Kwanjang to advance to the championship match for the 10th time in the franchise's history.

Heungkuk Life swept Jeong Kwanjang 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-19) in straight sets in the third round of the Professional Volleyball Dodram 2023-2024 V League Women's Playoffs (P0) at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Saturday.

Heungkuk Life, which finished second in the regular season, won the first game of the best-of-three PO after dropping the second game, but won the third game in straight sets in front of its home fans to advance to the championship match with a 2-1 record.

The women's championship will be held in a best-of-five series, starting with the first game at the Suwon Gymnasium, home of regular-season leader Hyundai E&C, on the 28th.

Heungkuk Life, which is playing in the championship for the second consecutive season and the 10th time in its career, will try to win its fifth title in five years after the 2018-2019 season.

After making a late-season surge to reach the postseason for the first time in seven years, the team was unable to overcome the injury bug of outside hitter Lee So-young and middle blocker Jung Ho-young, who both exited the spring volleyball season. Their dream of reaching the championship game for the first time in 12 years after the 2011-2012 season also came to an end.

On this day, Heungkuk Life shook up Jung Kwan-jang's receiving line with its changeable serve and utilized the flanking attacks of Kim Yeon-kyung (21 points), Willow Johnson (14 points), and Reina Tokoku (15 points) to blitz the opponent's zone.

Jungkwanjang's vaunted duo of Giavanna Milana (16 points) and Megawattie Puttiwi (12 points) also contributed, but the Heungkuk Life trio had more firepower.

In Game 3 of the PO, Heungkuk Life's attack success rate was 45%, 12 percentage points higher than Jungkwanjang's 33%.

After Willow's quick opener tied the score at 1-1 in the first set, Heungkuk Life went on a 5-1 run thanks to Kim Soo-ji's back-to-back service aces and Willow's quick opener at the end of the rally.

In the final set, Kim Yeon-kyung was the solution.

At 19-15, Heungkuk Life broke the 20-point barrier with an open attack from Kim, and a service ace from Kim sealed the win at 21-15.

At 8-8 in the seesaw game of the second set, Jung Kwan-jang's attack was blocked by Lee Won-jung, and Kim Sae-in's attack was blocked again by Lee Won-jung, and Kim Sae-in made an attack error to make it 8-10.

The wall was too high for the 172-centimeter tall Kim.

Kim scored on her third attack attempt to bring Roadworks back to 9-10, but Heungkuk Life scored back-to-back points on a quick open from Kim Yeon-kyung and a quick open from Willow to take a 12-19 lead.

At 17-15, Heungkuk Life scored one more point on an open attack from Reina, and then Lee Won-jung blocked an open attack from Lee Sun-woo to make it 19-15, effectively ending the second set.

Jung Kwan-jang tried to regain the initiative.

She took a 9-6 lead early in the third set.

However, after Heungkuk Life pulled within one point with a quick opener from Reina and a two-step attack from opposing setter Yeom Hye-sun blocked by Reina, Jung Kwan-jang's Zoupo Jia missed a net touch to tie the score at 9-9.

The decisive moment came at 14-14.

After a long rally, Mega attempted an open attack, but Kim Yeon-kyung blocked it with precision.

Jia's back-attack kill followed, giving Heungkook Saengsim a 16-14 lead.

A quick open from Park Hye-min brought Jung Kwan-jang back to 15-16, but Heungkuk Life scored three straight points with a quick open from Kim Yeon-kyung, a service ace, and an open attack from Reina to take a 19-15 lead.

This was the moment when Heungkuk Life secured its place in the championship match.

At 23-19, Heungkuk Life created match point with an open attack from Kim Yeon-kyung, and Mega's attack error ended the PO.