Samsung Fire has played five full-set matches this season, winning all of them.
After winning the fifth full-set match, Samsung Fire head coach Kim Sang-woo laughed and said, “It would be better if we could finish the match before the fifth set,” but also said, “Our team has definitely changed. It’s very encouraging that we got rid of the defeat mentality.”
Samsung Fire defeated Woori Card 3-2 (26-24 25-22 20-25 23-25 15-13) in the men’s visiting match of the Professional Volleyball Dodram 2023-2024 V League at Jangchung Gymnasium in Jung-gu, Seoul on Wednesday.
With the win, Samsung Fire leapfrogged Woori Card from fourth to second place.
In the V-League, a team that wins with a set score of 3-0 or 3-1 earns three points, and a team that wins 3-2 earns one point. A team that loses 2-3 earns one point.
Samsung Fire has fewer points (25) than wins (10-5) because five of its 15 matches went to full sets.
However, it’s encouraging to see a team that won just 11 games (25 losses) in the 2022-2023 season reach the 10-win mark this season and sit atop the standings before even turning the corner.
“It’s unfortunate that there are a lot of games where we only get two points instead of three, but I’m thankful that our players didn’t give up until the end and had a good first half,” said coach Kim Sang-woo.
Samsung Fire’s “never give up” attitude was the difference in the first set.
Down 13-21, the Fire closed the gap to 19-24.
In fact, in men’s professional volleyball, it is difficult to overturn a five-point deficit when facing a set point.
On this day, however, Samsung Fire rallied behind the strong serve of Yosvani Hernandez (real name Yosvani), scoring the next seven points to take the first set 26-24.
At 23-24, Yosubani served three consecutive service aces.
“If we had lost the first set, we wouldn’t have been able to play a five-set match,” said Kim Sang-woo. “By winning the first set, we were able to push the match to five sets.”
“I was in a corner in the first set, but I served calmly,” Yosubani said calmly, adding, “Keeping my composure was the secret to my continuous scoring.”
After winning the first and second sets, Samsung Fireworks dropped the third and fourth sets.
In the fifth set, Yosubani came out flying again.
Yosubani tied the score at 12-13 with a successful back attack, and then followed it up with a back attack in the ensuing rally.
Samsung Fire won the deciding point at 14-13 when Kim Jun-woo blocked a late attack from Matej Kok.
“I made several mistakes in the fourth set,” Yosubani recalled, “and to make up for them, I was more focused in the fifth set.”
With four service aces, 14 back-attacks, and four blocking points, Yosubani completed her sixth career triple crown (at least three service, back-attack, and blocking points each) and second this season.
Yosvani, who scored a team-high 39 points on the night, also had a team-high six kills in the fifth set. 토토