“We played well.”
Korea Expressway Corporation, coached by Kim Jong-min, defeated Pepper Savings Bank 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-21) in straight sets in the fourth round of the Dodram 2023-24 V-League Women’s Division on Saturday at Gimcheon Indoor Stadium.
Roadworks improved to 25 points (8W-16L), narrowing the gap between them and fourth-place IBK (33 points, 11W-12L) to eight points. The team kept its hopes alive for spring volleyball.
With his mother and sister in Korea from Serbia, Vanya Vukiric (real name Vukiric), who had family support on the court, scored a game-high 28 points and shot 57.14% from the field. His efficiency was also high at 45%. Bae Yuna added eight points, Moon Jung-won, Lee Yerim, and Kim Se-bin had six points each, and the team held a 10-5 advantage in blocking and a 5-3 advantage in serving.
After the match, head coach Kim Jong-min said, “I thought it would be a difficult match, but it went better than I expected. The players did a good job of blocking and defense. Vukiric also did a good job.” “We emphasized our serve a lot because our opponent’s reception was weak. Even if we made a mistake, we tried to serve strongly, and it worked well. Also, in the beginning, Lee Yoon-jung only looked at one side and threw the toss, but as time went on, she distributed it variously and it became easier to operate.”
After today’s match, the Roadworks will enter the All-Star break. They will have plenty of time to rest before their match against Heungkuk Life on the 30th.
“I thought about it a lot, but I think we need to take a break because it’s a long break. We need to get back in shape,” Kim said.
On preparing for rounds 5 and 6, he said, “Our team has a set route of attack. We need to be prepared to disperse them. But it’s not always easy,” he said, adding, “I want Yoon Jung-jeong to be confident, but on this day, our team’s reception was close to 50% (Roadworks reception efficiency 43.40%). That should have resulted in a variety of set plays, but I’m disappointed in that part.”