(MHN Sports Reporter Kwon Soo-yeon) In the second year of the V League, Yelena Mrazenovic (registered name Yelena) finally lifted the trophy.
On the 15th, Heungkuk Life Insurance beat IBK Industrial Bank with a set score of 3-0 in the 6th round away match of the Dodram V-League women’s division ‘season 2022-23’ held at the Hwaseong Indoor Gymnasium, confirming first place in the regular league.
At that time, Heungkuk Life Insurance was in a position where even if he won or lost, if he only brought two sets, he would get a direct ticket to the championship match. I won completely by playing a relaxed match against IBK, who had already been eliminated from spring volleyball. At that time, Kim Yeon-kyung scored 23 points (attack success rate 52.78%) and Yelena scored 20 points, sparking a fire with the firepower of the twins.
Yelena, who played an active role as the top scorer for Heungkuk Life Insurance this season with Kim Yeon-kyung, began her V-League life as a member of KGC Ginseng Corporation in the 2021-22 season.
It wasn’t bad at the time of Ginseng Corporation, but on the other hand, it didn’t stand out too much. To put it in one word, it was ‘flawless’.
At the time, Yelena was in 5th place with a cumulative score of 672 at the end of the 5th round. He was one step higher than Elizabeth (then Pepper Savings Bank, 598 points, 6th place). IBK did not make the list because Rebecca Lasem and Santana were replaced late. In attack success rate, he was 5th with an average of 39.44%. In addition, he made himself to serve and open attacks, but he was not in the clear ranks. A year of adjusting to the V-League, which was not easy, passed quickly.
Since there was no outstanding performance, eyes turned to see if Yelena stayed in Korea this season. And Heungkuk Life Insurance, which announced the return of Kim Yeon-kyung, drew Yelena.
Yelena’s serve in the offseason practice match against JT Marvelous in Japan was much more powerful. Equipped with a stronger spike service.
At Media Day, Yelena announced the season opener with a big smile while sitting next to Kim Yeon-kyung. At the time, through an interview with a media outlet, he was so glad to see Kim Yeon-kyung join that he said, “I screamed in the dorm.”
Yelena, who returned as ‘Pink Jupo’, showed a good performance from the season opener. On October 29 last year, he met his parent team, Ginseng Corporation, and played an active role with the highest score (20 points, attack success rate 45.71%) of the two teams. He hits 3 service aces and makes a clear impression. Since then, next to Kim Yeon-kyung, who has been active as a pair of guns, she has become a pillar and support of the team by steadily making clutch scores and the most points in the team.
There were also difficult times. In January, due to the dismissal of former manager Kwon Soon-chan and the oversight of the club, he experienced an unprecedented ‘commander’s job’. I was caught up in a big argument in a foreign country where I couldn’t speak the language. At the time, Yelena said quietly, “I’m confused, but I’m trying to focus on overcoming well with the team.”
In the game against GS Caltex, the first game after the resignation of former coach Kwon, he scored 36 points (attack success rate 50.77%) and recorded a personal career high. However, MoMA scored 43 points (54.79% attack success rate) in the game, failing to record the most points for both teams.
And finally, Abondanza, who comes from Italy and leads the prestigious Turkish club Fenerbahce, filled the vacancy. Following Kim Yeon-kyung, the team was full of masters, and Yelena could look ahead again.
Even when excellent mercenaries from other teams took a break or left due to injuries and pain, Yelena spent the season without a single major injury. His emotional mood due to his strong desire to compete was often evident, but he consistently did his part as the top gun.
From the current Ginseng Build Battle (15th), Yelena is 3rd overall with a cumulative score of 818 points, 4th with an attack success rate of 42.95%, 2nd with 0.26 per subset, 5th with an average of 38.99% in open attacks , and 42.26% with a back-to-back success rate, placing in the top 5 in various areas, including 4th place, and earning plenty of report cards. In addition, she even achieves the triple crown (March 2nd Pepper Savings Bank game) as the first season of the women’s division this season.
Although somewhat overshadowed by the star quality of Kim Yeon-kyung, Yelena, who worked hard together to overcome difficulties, also lifted the trophy together as a leading part in victory.
I heard the trophy for first place in the regular league, and now all that’s left is the championship trophy. Of course, it is still unknown which team will take him. Expectations are high that Yelena, who sheds sweet tears with the regular league trophy, will play ‘happy volleyball’ until the end of the season.
Heungkuk Life Insurance meets Hyundai E&C at home at 4:00 pm on the 19th, the last day of the regular league.
The first leg of the championship game, which marks the end of the season, will be held on the 29th.
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