Men’s professional volleyball’s KEPCO is taking a breather.

With the All-Star break, KEPCO is focusing on resting its starters and improving its success rate in open attacks. They’re also looking to improve their reception.

The men’s team is in a tough spot this season. KEPCO is currently in fifth place with 13 wins and 11 losses (37 points), but only three points separate them from third-place Samsung Fire (40 points). 현금홀덤사이트 They are also seven points behind leaders Woori Card (44 points).

It was a shaky start. The team struggled early in the season, losing four straight games. However, the team turned things around with a seven-game winning streak from November 14 to December 8, 2023. They won three points in each of the seven matches and managed to keep their points in check. As a result, the men’s division is in the midst of a bloody standings war.

KEPCO welcomes the All-Star break. They are looking to take a breather and make a leap forward.

KEPCO’s seven-game winning streak after a four-game losing streak

KEPCO had a rough start to the season with speculation of a sale. They had a steady defense led by libero Ryohei Iga (registered name Ryohei), but were unable to tie the rally knot. They also made a change by using Thais Lesser Host as an outside hitter instead of an outside hitter. It wasn’t an easy rebound.

Soon, they found a way to turn the tide. The team focused on improving the chemistry between setter Ha Seung-woo and the domestic offensive resources, especially Ha Seung-woo, Seo Jae-duk, and coach Kwon Young-min, who was born a setter. As Seo and Lim’s offense came alive, so did the team.

After a four-game losing streak, KEPCO won seven games in a row, setting the stage for a leap in the rankings. Among them, outside hitter Lee “Salimjae” Simon, who retired from military service, and outside hitter Kim “Apojit” Dong-young, who has a good serve, were substituted and raised the team’s mood.

Kwon made a splash by wearing the same beige suit throughout the seven-game winning streak. The players were also eager to continue their winning streak during training camp.

Fourth-year pro outside hitter Lim Sung-jin’s offensive balance also stood out. She has the most receptions on the team and still manages to hold her own. She is developing into an all-around player.

During the fourth round, Ryohei was sidelined with a right hamstring injury, but Jang Ji-won and Ishimon, the team’s starting liberos from the previous season, stepped up to the plate. They made up for Ryohei’s absence with solid defense.

After reorganizing, the team was ready for a head-to-head battle in the fifth and sixth rounds of spring volleyball.

Recharging stamina and increasing open attack success

KEPCO had a 3-1 head-to-head advantage against KB Insurance and Samsung Fire until the fourth round this season, and went 2-2 against Korean Air, Hyundai Capital, and OK Financial Group. KEPCO has struggled against Woori Card. In the fourth round against Woori Card, they won a close full-set match to improve to 1-3.

Coach Kwon said before the All-Star break, “It’s been choppy. We don’t have many full-set matches. There were a lot of matches where we lost the first set and things didn’t go our way, but the seniors led us well. We had some rough patches, but we got through them. We’ve come to a point where we can fight for the rankings. We’re still not good enough, but we’re happy so far,” he said of the teams in Rounds 1-4.

KEPCO wrapped up the fourth round with a win against KB Insurance on April 18. Their first game of Round 5 will also be against KB Insurance. They will face KB Insurance on February 1 in Anbang.

KEPCO is back in training after a three-day break. There are definitely things to work on. Coach Kwon said, “We need to work on our open attack success rate, and we need to perfect our reception, whether it’s taking out a tie or putting in a tie. If we can do those two things well, I think we’ll be able to compete better than other teams.”

Currently, KEPCO has a 38.69% success rate in the open offense category, the lowest of the seven teams. They are about 7 percent behind the No. 1 team in open attacks, OK Financial Group (46 percent success rate). With the men’s team’s rallies getting longer and longer this season, they need to improve their decisiveness.

It would also be a great help to recharge their batteries. “We don’t have many backup players,” Kwon said. We need our main players to play well to win. Tais, Seo Jae-duk, Ha Seung-woo, Shin Young-seok, and others will be physically tired, so I think it will be an advantage for us to rest. We want to continue when the mood is good, but resting when we are tired will also help the team.”

Even the tight point differential is motivating for KEPCO. They will give it their all in the remaining 12 games of the regular season. “If we play well in the fifth round, I think we can challenge for the top spot in the regular season,” said Kwon. The difference in points is not that big. There’s no one team dominating and no one team dropping. It’s going to be fun,” he smiled.

KEPCO is fifth in scoring, fifth in sets and fourth in serving, but is second in total offense and third in blocking-dig-receive-defense. Serving and blocking also shined in the fourth round. For the fourth consecutive match, she recorded at least one service a set, and against KB Insurance, she put up an ironclad blocking performance with five blocks per set. Veteran middle blocker Shin Young-seok made history by becoming the first player in history to reach 1,200 blocks.

KEPCO, which was touted as a dark horse and even a favorite to win the title before the season began, will be looking for its third consecutive ‘Suwon Spring’.