GS Caltex defeated Heungkuk Life Insurance 3-2 (25-23, 25-22, 19-25, 17-25, 15-7) in the third match of the 2020-2021 Dodram League Women’s Championship V at Incheon Gyeyang Gymnasium on the 30th.) won. The first two sets were won by GS Caltex and the third and fourth sets were won by Heungkuk Life.
In the match, GS Caltex suffered bad conditions: the condition of So-Young Lee, and a 4th set ankle injury by So-Hwi Kang. Nevertheless, Meretta Lutz led the attack throughout the game with 37 points. The final score of the 5th set, which gave up the victory by losing 2 sets in the second half, also ended with Lutz creating a touch attack of his opponent. Soyoung Lee and Lutz received a combined 11 votes out of 31 votes in the championship game, and were jointly awarded the MVP award.
With this victory, GS Caltex won the championship for the first time in seven years after the 2013-2014 season. GS Caltex, who defeated first-place Heungkuk Life Insurance in the regular season for the first time in 13 years and the KOVO Cup final, came first in every competition this season, winning the first three gold medals in volleyball women. The triangular squad (Lee So-young, Kang So-hwi, and Lutz) that does not rely on a single-player attack and the leadership of coach Cha Sang-hyun’s father shone throughout the season.
Heungkuk Life, nicknamed ‘Uh-heung (the winner is Heungkuk Life after all)’ as star players Kim Yeon-kyung, Lee Jae-young, and Da-young had no choice but to finish the worst. After losing first place in the regular league to GS Caltex due to the departure of the main players in the second half of the season, he kneeled down again in the championship game. Kim Yeon-kyung, who read through the team even in a situation where the team was in crisis, did not become the main character in the return to Korea after 11 years. Kim Yeon-kyung hinted that he would part ways on Media Day before the playoffs, saying, “I don’t know if I will play in Korea next season.” As the team became ‘not related’, the possibility of Kim Yeon-kyung staying in Korea became even lower.
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