I guarantee it.
There are bound to be Jeong Kwan-Jang fans in the world who opposed the appointment of coach Ko Hee-jin, but cheered for coach Go when he got into a war of nerves with Heungkuk Life Insurance coach Turino Daniele.
If you are a fan like this, I would greatly appreciate it if you click ‘Like’ or ‘I’m a fan’ and read this article, depending on your preference.
Coach Ko said ahead of the Incheon visit on the 17th, “I prepared serve strategies, blocking, and defensive positions for each setter (rotation) position.”
He added, “If we perform as well as we prepared, we will be able to have a good game.”
In fact, Cheong Kwan Jang defeated Heungkuk Life Insurance, the leader in the professional volleyball women’s division, who had won all 14 matches before this game, 3-1 (25-22, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22).
That must mean that the strategy prepared by Director Ko worked well, right?
Let’s go to the 4th set, where Cheong Kwan-jang was down 19-21.
![Go Hee-jin’s ‘short serve’ brought down Kim Yeon-kyung [발리볼 비키니]](https://dimg.donga.com/wps/NEWS/IMAGE/2024/12/18/130667639.1.gif "Go Hee-jin’s ‘short serve’ brought down Kim Yeon-kyung [발리볼 비키니]")
Cheong Kwan-Jang’s starting setter Yeom Hye-seon (33) serves briefly to the left side of the opponent’s court.
Then, Kim Yeon-kyung (36) from Heungkuk Life Insurance will receive this serve.
In this situation, Hoyoung Jeong (23, middle blocker) and Mega (25, alternative spiker) set up a blocking wall in preparation for Kim Yeon-kyung’s attack.
Even if this attack cannot be blocked, Libero Nolan (30) steps in to cover.
Then, Bukiric (25, outside hitter) throws a spike bomb into the opponent’s court.
In this rotation, Yeom Hye-sun served five times in a row.
So, Cheong Gwan-jang succeeded in scoring 5 consecutive goals.
In this case, this happens when Heungkuk Life Insurance setter Lee Go-eun (29) launches the ball to the right side of the court.
While Chung Ho-young and Mega were blocking the left side of the opponent’s court where Kim Yeon-kyung was, Buriric was in charge of marking Tutq.
Even in the second half of the first set when the above scene occurred, Yeom Hye-sun served four times in a row = Cheong Kwan-jang ended the set by scoring four consecutive points.
In both scenes, Kim Yeon-kyung was in the second position (right of the lineman) in the rotation order.
(Kim Yeon-kyung is clearly in front of the left side of the court, so if you’re wondering why it’s written as ‘forward right’, ask ‘What on earth is a position fault? [발리볼 비키니]’ may help. https://bit.ly/3x7DT0s)
Kim Yeon-kyung received Jeong Kwan-jang’s serve a total of 29 times in this game, 17 of them (58.6%) while in the number 2 position.
And in this game, while Kim Yeon-kyung was in number 2, Heungkuk Life Insurance only recorded an attack efficiency of 0.033.
In volleyball, the rotation changes with each serve turn.
When attack efficiency drops like this, it is not easy to rotate.
Director Go’s sub-operation trapped Kim Yeon-kyung in ‘Swamp No. 2’.
Coach Ko also prepared for ‘blocking and beyond’ by putting tall (181cm) setter Ahn Ye-rim (23) on the court instead of Yeom Hye-seon when it was necessary to raise the blocking wall high.
If Yeom Hye-sun was the major contributor to the wins in sets 1 and 4, it could be said that Ahn Ye-rim was responsible for winning the second set.
With the score tied at 23-23 in the second set, Ahn Ye-rim took responsibility for setting up the attack following an effective block (a block that led to our team’s dig), giving the team a set point opportunity.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this column, at least in this game, the strategy prepared by Coach Go was really aligned.
After the game, Coach Go gave credit to the players, saying, “They did a really good job.”
He then said, “Only if the players do well will these tactics be able to see the light of day. “I’m really proud of you,” he said, giving a thumbs up.
It is true that when he was leading the men’s team at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, Coach Ko sometimes gave off the feeling that he was unprepared.
But when you look at the late director, don’t you smell the scent of a great master somewhere?