“More than anything else, I’m really happy that we won the home room.”
Lee Han-bi (26), captain of the women’s professional volleyball team Pepper Savings Bank, defeated IBK Industrial Bank 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25) in the home game of the Dodram V League 4th round of the 2021-2022 season held at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on the 18th. -21), and then expressed the same feeling. It means more to winning the first home game since the start of the season than to getting out of the swamp of 17 straight losses. In fact, Pepper Savings Bank won only one out of 23 matches this season, excluding the match, and it was the first time that it had scored 3 points.
On this day, Pepper Savings Bank’s score was led by the combination of Elisabeth (23 points) and Kyung-hyeon Park (11 points), ‘Main Po’, but Lee Han-bi’s hidden performance was behind the team’s first complete victory in the home room. When Elizabeth and Park Kyung-hyun attacked, they thoroughly helped, and did not miss the opportunity that came to them. In fact, Lee Han-bi’s attack success rate on that day was low at 23%, but at every turning point in each set, he succeeded in breaking the opponent’s pursuit several times and helped the team win with 8 points.
In particular, at the end of the third set, the spike that confirmed the team’s first home victory was shoved down on the court. It was a moment to repay the wishes of the 1499 home fans who were hoping for only one win. On this day, on the field, ‘one win is good. A losing streak is good too. There was even a placard hanging on it saying, ‘Just make it fun. Lee Han-bi said, “It was a 24-21 lead in the third set, but I was nervous. Lee Han-bi also said that after scoring, he saw his teammates running to him and thought, ‘I won’.
Also, on that day, during the match between ‘Halvarini (Grandpa + Lavarini)’ Kim Hyung-sil, director of Pepper Savings Bank, and IBK Industrial Bank’s manager Ho-cheol Kim, ‘Borok Ho-cheol’, which drew attention from volleyball fans, Kim Hyung-sil laughed first. Director Kim Ho-cheol’s high school and Hanyang University senior coach Kim Hyung-sil said, “The fans waited patiently until we lost 20. Now that I have confidence, I will minimize injuries and maximize my fighting spirit to show a better side in the 5th round.”
Pepper Savings Bank, which has completed all four rounds with this game, plans to spend an unscheduled time until the 30th, including the All-Star break.
By Kim Jeong-hoon, staff reporter hun@donga.com
