Two friends saved the team. Outside hitters Kyung-Min Hwang and Seong-Jung Han (26+) rescued KB Insurance from a losing streak.
KB Insurance won the match against Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance held at Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon on the 13th with a set score of 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-14, 25-21). KB Insurance ended its 8-game losing streak since the Hyundai Capital match on November 9th. KB Insurance, which had 4 wins and 9 losses (12 points), also overcame the pursuit of Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (2 wins, 12 losses, 8 points), which was the lowest.
KB Insurance fought without foreign players in the Samsung Firefighting match. This is because they decided to release Nicola Mellagnac, who was chosen as the successor to Keita Noumori, and recruit Andres Vijena. Vijena, who plays in the Egyptian league, can play at least 1-2 weeks later as her contract has not been finalized yet.
I played with domestic players, but the performance was excellent. The two outside hitters, Han Seong-jeong and Hwang Kyung-min, hit difficult attacks one after another. He was not afraid of 3-man blocking and boldly threw a spike. Hwang Kyung-min scored 20 points and Han Seong-jeong 15 points. Both are the most goals scored in a single game this season.
In particular, Hwang Kyung-min was very happy. Last month, I came to KB through a 2-3 trade between KB Insurance and Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance (Kim Jeong-ho + Yang Hee-jun = Choi Ik-je ↔ Hwang Gyeong-min + Baek Gwang-hyeon), but the team has never won.
Hwang Kyung-min said, “I was very sorry that I couldn’t win once after I came. Coach Hu In-jung trusted me and brought me, and I felt sorry for my teammates. It feels good to break a losing streak with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.” Han Seong-jeong said, “Actually, it was a losing streak before Kyung-min came, but I felt sorry. Kyung-min came and the atmosphere was reversed, but I was sorry that it didn’t go well. Every game, I said, ‘Let’s trust’, but it’s good to win.”
Han Seong-jeong said, “As the losing streak got longer, the players were sensitive and having a hard time. I was careful with my words and actions. I even joked on purpose so that the atmosphere wouldn’t deteriorate. But as the losing streak got longer, I couldn’t help it. ‘ I was worried. ‘Let’s start again. Since the second round is over, let’s do it like the first match,'” he recalled.
In the first round, he beat KB as a member of Samsung, and in the second round, Hwang Gyeong-min, who came to KB and lost to Samsung, defeated Samsung as a member of KB. Hwang Kyung-min said, “I lost 0-3 in the second round, and I couldn’t sleep 메이저놀이터 because I was pissed off. I was in a situation where I could win enough, but I was very angry.” I worked hard to get together and quit running. I think I was ahead in fighting spirit.”
Samsung Fire & Marine’s main gun Ikbairi scored 28 points that day, but 9 attacks were blocked. Hwang Kyung-min said, “I know it well because I’m on the same team. Ikbairi doesn’t have a lot of angles, so I hit the 6th spot a lot with a half-cross attack. That part worked well, so (Ikbairi) had a hard time in the beginning. same,” he said.
Han Seong-jeong was briefly pushed out of the starting lineup. Han Seong-jeong said, “I blamed myself for my poor performance while losing consecutively. I did everything to improve. The coach and teammates believed in me. I thought I had to change, but my condition improved from the last game.”
The two players were close friends during Woori Card days. Han Seong-jeong jumped into the pros first through the 2017 draft, and the following year, Hwang Kyung-min was selected by Woori Card. Although they were competing for the same position, they were ‘goodwill rivals’ who encouraged each other.
They broke up when Hwang Kyung-min moved to Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance ahead of the 2019-20 season. Han Seong-jeong was traded to KB Insurance during last season. The two, who had been arguing over the net, became teammates again. As the two teams traded last month, Hwang Kyung-min, who is about to become a free agent, wore a KB uniform. The two, who had tears in their eyes when they parted, were reunited dramatically.
Han Seong-jeong, who became the same team again after three years, said, “I asked to meet again someday, but we met sooner than expected. Even Taek-eui is relying on the three of us a lot. Shouldn’t all three of them do well to go up to a higher place?” Hwang Kyung-min said, “I was sorry when we broke up after being together for two years, so we talked about staying together when we became free agents.” Han Seong-jeong became a free agent after last season but stayed with KB, and Hwang Kyung-min gets free agent status after this season. Hwang Kyung-min laughed and said, “If nothing happens, I won’t stay at KB.”
KB Insurance, which reached the first championship last season, fell into the bottom ranks due to sluggishness this season. However, it is still only 9 points away from 3rd place OK Financial Group and 6 points from 4th and 5th place Woori Card and KEPCO.
Hwang Kyung-min said, “If the losing streak continued until the second half of the third round, this season would have been difficult. In the first game of the third round, we broke the losing streak and scored 3 points. If it goes up, I don’t know what will happen to spring volleyball,” he said, talking about hope.
Han Seong-jeong said, “I’ll go. If we do it today, we won’t lose in a row. I wonder if a foreign player will come and Taek-ui will become stronger. I believe that our team will go higher.”