Despite the victory, the team emphasized its steady performance.
Heungkuk Life extended its winning streak to eight games with a 3-2 (25-10, 20-25, 25-22, 22-25, 17-15) set win over Pepper Savings Bank in the second round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League Women’s Division at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Monday.
She finished the second round with a straight-set victory to reclaim the top spot on the leaderboard. Yelena Mrazenovic (registered as Yelena) scored 34 points, Yeon-Kyung Kim 25 points, and 토토 Reina Tokoku (registered as Reina) 13 points in an even scoring distribution.
However, head coach Marcello Abondanza was not completely satisfied with the win. “We had a good start to this match, from our concentration to the quality of our play, and then we fell apart. We played a completely different volleyball. It’s important to show our team’s staying power,” he said.
She emphasized the team’s consistency. “There are certain things we need to bring to the table regardless of the opponent. I think it’s important for us to stay on the court and play with consistency.”
Throughout the match, Lee Won-jung and Kim Da-sol alternated between setter and attacker. Coach Abondanza said, “I didn’t think either of them played well today, so I had to make a substitution. We struggled on defense from the side out, and most importantly, we didn’t use Lee Ju-ah well. I don’t think she played her best game.”
Meanwhile, Pepper Savings Bank settled for one point and finished the second round with a 1-5 record. Yasmin Bedardt (registered name Yasmin) led the team with 24 points, Park Jung-ah with 20, Lee Han-bi with 13, and Ha Hye-jin with 11. After leading the fifth set to deuce, the team had a match point, but lost the deciding game and had to settle for a point.
Despite the loss, Pepper Savings Bank head coach Joe Trinzi said, “It was encouraging to see a lot of improvements compared to the first round, but there were also areas that we need to develop and improve in this match, and we will need to analyze them in order to do better in the upcoming third round match.”
Despite dropping the first set by a large margin of 10-25, Pepper Savings Bank persistently harassed Heungkuk Life in the second set. Coach Trinzi said, “I think the strength came from our teamwork. I think our teamwork gave us strength,” said coach Trinzi.
Park Sawa, who was subbed in after the first set, showed a good performance. “She came in suddenly from the bench, but I’m happy that she was ready,” said Trinzi. She has good athleticism and a good toss-up game,” he said.
Pepper Savings Bank will meet Heungkuk Life again on May 5. “Both teams will analyze today’s game and prepare for the next game,” said Coach Trinzi. “We don’t think Heungkuk Life will come in with the same lineup, and I’m sure they will too. We will work hard to prepare for the rest of the game,” he said before leaving the interview room.
