The Korean women’s volleyball team fought back and forth against Poland, but fell short.
The South Korean women’s volleyball team (ranked 36th in the world), coached by Cesar Hernandez, fell 1-3 (22-25, 26-24, 21-25, 9-25) to Poland (ranked 7th in the world) on their home court in a Group C match at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games Final Qualification Tournament at the Atlas Arena in Łódź, Poland, on Monday (June 18). Korea fell to two losses, while Poland cruised to two wins.
Korea had 16 kills from Kang So-hwi, 15 from Pyo Seung-joo, nine from Lee Ju-ah, and eight from Jung Ho-young, but it wasn’t enough to win the match. A 46-52 advantage in attack points and an 8-22 disadvantage in blocks proved to be the difference in the match.
Poland was led by Stasiak’s 21 points, while Lukacik added 20.
Korea started with apogee spiker Kwon Min-ji, outside hitters Park Jung-ah and Kang So-hwi, middle blockers Jung Ho-young and Lee Ju-ah, setter Kim Da-in, and libero Kim Yeon-yeon. There were no changes from the previous day’s match.
For this tournament and the Hangzhou Asian Games, Cesar has made it a point to utilize his starting lineup as much as possible. The best seven will continue to be the starting lineup.
Poland took the court first with apogee spiker Stasiak, outside hitters Rozanski and Lukasik, middle blockers Witkowska and Pakac, setter Pereska, and libero Stenzel.
At the start of the first set, Park’s serve hit the net. Kang So-hwi’s attack was out. Kwon Min-ji’s attack on the right side was also blocked, giving Korea a shaky 0-3 start.
The first point was scored by Kang So-hwi with a hard left hit. Kang So-hwi scored three more times to bring Korea within 3-5. After that, Korea got a block from Jung Ho-young to make it 5-7 and a service ace from Lee Ju-ah to make it 6-7. However, attacks by Park Jung-ah and Jeong Ho-young were blocked to bring the score back to 6-10.
After stoppage time, Korea got some breathing room with Park’s touchout, but were unable to capitalize on the ensuing rally after Kim’s dig. Poland extended its lead to 12-7 on a left-handed hit by Rozanski.
Korea responded with points left and right from Kwon Min-ji. Kang So-hwi responded with a hard left. The score was 10-15. Korea brought in setter Kim Ji-won and outside hitter Lee Han-bi, but Park Jung-ah’s attack was blocked in the ensuing rally. Coach Cesar brought in Pyo Seung-ju to make a change.
Jung Ho-young’s center hit and Pyo Seung-joo’s left hit brought the score within five points at 14-19. Jung celebrated with a block. The scoreboard showed 16-19 as the opponent’s offense came to an end.
The Polish bench called for game time, and Poland responded with a pipe attack from Stasiak. South Korea responded with two centers from Jung Ho-young. The score was reduced to 18-21.
Poland capitalized on Stysiak’s breakaway. However, Rozanski’s subsequent serve was out. Seizing the opportunity, Korea continued to push forward with a mobile attack from Lee Ju-ah. Kang So-hwi signaled the 21-23 pressure with a service ace.
However, she was unable to stop Lukasik’s hard hitting in the paint as the set was in doubt. Poland took the first set 25-22.
Set two. Korea rallied from a 2-2 tie with Kang So-hwi’s left-hand smash and a point in the paint. Kwon Min-ji missed her serve, but Lee Ju-ah converted a difficult attack to make it a one-point game. Pyo Seung-ju tied the score at 6-6 with two left-handed hits and a clever point. Pyo Seung-joo twisted her wrist and scored a touchout for a 7-6 lead.
After Poland took the lead with a block from Pereska, Korea responded with a block from Jung Ho-young and never looked back. After an opponent serve error, Jung Ho-young’s kill gave Korea the lead again at 10-9, which Lee Ju-ah increased with a deft score from the center.
In the early stages of the match, Korea’s connection was shaky and they allowed the lead to slip away. The opponent fought back. Coach Cesar stemmed the tide with a timeout.
Kang So-hwi tied the score at 12-12 with a left-handed blast. After a block out by Lee Ju-ah and a flying dig by Kwon Min-ji, Pyo Seung-ju’s hard hit made it 14-14.
The problem came after that. Pyo Seung-joo went for a straight line on the ensuing rally but was blocked by the high wall. Poland scored three straight points on Wieckowska’s serve and a block by Pakak. The balance was upset when Pyo Seung-joo’s left scoring route, which had been working well, was blocked. The long rally ended with Stasiak scoring.
South Korea’s long rally saw Pyo Seung-joo try to attack the right side, but it was blocked. Coach Cesar made another change, bringing on Moon Jung-won after Lee Han-bi. With their attacker out, South Korea had a chance. However, Stasiak’s back-attack seemed to hit the net and was lucky to score, making the score 16-20.
Korea regrouped with a one-man block by Jung Ho-young. Poland’s Stasiak’s attack was ruled out. The score was reduced to 18-20.
Korea was left disappointed when Kim Ji-won’s serve was out. Kang So-hwi twisted his wrist on a difficult ball and scored to make it 19-21. After a dig by Moon Jung-won, the scoreboard showed 20-21. It was a close first set. The next rally came from Kang So-hwi after a dig by Moon Jung-won. With the score tied at 21-21, the Korean players celebrated.
The Koreans took control of the momentum and went up 22-21 on a kill by Lee Ju-ah. A challenge from the Polish bench failed. After a strong serve by Lee Han-bi, Korea took a 23-21 lead on a block by Lee Ju-ah. Lee’s subsequent serve was out. Poland tied the score at 23-23 with a hard left-handed hit from Rozanski.
In a one-point battle, South Korea got the first touch on the 24-23 set point when Kang So-hwi scored on a touchout. With Poland’s Witkowska scoring, the Korean bench called for a net touch challenge, but there was no touch. The set went into deuce.
Korea once again earned set point with a hard left from Pyo Seung-joo. Pyo Seung-joo’s left-handed blast exploded and the set went to Korea. The score was 26-24.
Set three. South Korea kept the same lineup from the second set. It started off well, with a block by Lee Ju-ah tying the score at 2-2. After a dig by Moon Jung-won, Kang So-hwi scored a touchdown from the left side. The score was tied at 5-5 after Kang’s left-handed hit and Pyo Seung-joo’s block.
After Poland took the lead with a hard hit by Stasiak, Korea tied the score at 6-6 with a clever net play by Kim Dain. Pyo Seung-joo focused on a difficult ball and scored. Korea took the lead at 7-6. The next rally was also scored by Pyo Seung-joo.
With Korea in control, a panicked Lavarini sent his main middle blocker Korneruk onto the court, but Korea responded with a series of hard-hitting kills and a net-touch error. Korea took a 9-6 lead.
Korea took an 11-8 lead after Pyo Seung-joo scored in the paint. In the ensuing rally, Korea gave up a turnover, but Kim Yeon-yeon’s body defense after Jung Ho-young’s effective block proved to be the difference maker. The three-point lead was maintained with an unforced error on the opponent’s serve.
Kang So-hwi scored a touchout through a challenge to give Korea a 13-10 lead. However, the next three points were unfortunate. They lost in the paint while preparing for a hard hit.
South Korea took a 15-13 lead when Lee Ju-ah scored a blocked try after a serve error by Stasiak. The 6,000 home fans in the 13,600-capacity Atlas Arena fell silent.
After Poland closed to 15-15 on back-to-back kills by Corneluk, Korea took a 17-15 lead on a hard hit by Pyo Seung-ju and an unforced error.
After Poland’s Stasiak scored, Kim Dain was called for an error, but Korea took an 18-17 lead on a fast break by Jung Ho-young. Poland tied the score on a kill by Stasiak. Korea capitalized on another fast break by Jung Ho-young, but this time it was against the wall. Pyo Seung-joo’s right side shot also failed to break through the high wall.
With the score at 18-20, Korea went for a one-point lead with an attack error, but Moon Jung-won’s attack was out to give Korea a 19-21 lead. Kang So-hwi’s reception went over the net and was finished off by Lu Kashik. The score was 19-22.
South Korea tried to catch up after regulation time with Kang So-hwi’s left blast, but it was blocked. In the ensuing rally, the opponent’s connection touched the ceiling of the gymnasium, but no call was made. The assistant referee didn’t even point it out. Basically, the game was poorly managed. South Korea was awarded a point the hard way and played on at 20-23.
Poland took a 24-20 lead with a left-handed strike from Lukasik. Korea fought back with a clever score from Lee Ju-ah. In the previous rally, Kang So-hwi tried his best to block, but Stasiak’s hard hit turned into a touchout. Poland took the third set 25-21.
The fourth and final set. Korea tied the score at 4-5 with strong kills from Moon Jung-won and Pyo Seung-joo in the early stages, but then the gap widened. A mega rally ended with an attack error by Pyo Seung-joo, and back-to-back errors made it a 4-8 double.아톰카지노
The Koreans tried to claw their way back with an attack from Kang So-hwi, but he was stopped by Rozanski. The score quickly grew to 5-12. Poland extended their lead to 17-7 with a goal from Stasiak and a block from Corneluk.
The Koreans gave it their all, but that was all they could muster as their stamina was rapidly dwindling. Korea lost 1-3, but it was definitely a different performance. After a 20-point first set, they came back to take the second set in a back-and-forth affair and held on for the win in the middle and late stages of the third set.
Korea will take a day off on the 18th and will play their third match of the tournament against Germany on the 19th.