The blocking was as cool as the Cheonggyecheon stream that runs through the center of Seoul. Woori Card middle blocker Lee Sang-hyun sealed the win for his team at a crucial moment.
Woori Card defeated Hyundai Capital 3-2 (19-25, 25-18, 25-22, 23-25, 15-13) in the third round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V League Men’s Division at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul on Tuesday.
The two teams battled hard throughout the match, and after a scoreless fourth set, the match went to a fifth set. 바카라사이트 Woori Card reached the fifth set technical timeout (8-7) first, but Hyundai Capital evened the score at 13-13.
At the crucial moment, Hyundai Capital had a chance to create a match point. Urikhad Matej Kok’s quick opener was effectively blocked by Cha Young-seok, and Ahmed Iqbairi hit a powerful spike. However, Lee Sang-hyun slid his hand in accurately to block it. Matej Kok then attacked to end the match at 14-13.
Woori Card coach Shin Young-cheol said, “You don’t have to follow (the body), you just have to put your hand on the course to catch it…” but laughed when he said, “I put my hand in well at the end.” “When I saw Iqbali hitting, I did a lot of blocking between (straight and diagonal) and then I gave a lot to the diagonal,” said Lee. “I thought, ‘If I go to Iqbali at 13-13, my left hand will block between and my right hand will block diagonally. I didn’t realize it at the time, but as I kept thinking about it, my body reacted automatically.”
Lee Sang-hyun said, “I didn’t feel like I couldn’t see the ball from the first set. I could see the blocking path well. However, I couldn’t get my hands over the net much, so I had a lot of drops. After the second set, my hands started to get caught. I wanted to catch the cross, but it didn’t work out. At the end, I made the block that the coach wanted,” she smiled.
On the day, Lee finished with six blocks and 10 points. Although she hasn’t had many starts this season, she has scored double-digit points seven times and is confident in both her blocking and fastball. In the decisive third set, he had two consecutive blocks at 8-8, and at 9-8, he blocked Choi Min-ho’s fastball by himself. “I didn’t try to block man-to-man, but when I saw (Hyundai Capital setter) Kim Myung-kwan’s form, I put my hand on the way to hit the fastball,” said Lee Sang-hyun.
Woori Card has a very competitive middle blocker class this season. Park Jin-woo, Kim Jae-hwi, Otake Issei, Park Jun-hyuk, and Lee Sang-hyun have been playing evenly. “Last season, I gained confidence by playing all the matches, but this season, I couldn’t play from the beginning, so my desire to play became stronger,” said Lee Sang-hyun.
“I had a lot of older brothers who played well, so I thought, ‘Can I play? I saw that Jun Hyuk improved a lot while I was with the national team,” he said. “To survive, I thought, ‘Let’s do what the coach says and work hard.’ I watched a lot of videos. I watched a lot of videos.” He also said, “Jae-hwi isn’t in perfect shape, and Jin-woo is sick. We’re going to keep working hard so that we don’t lose the competition. I want to compete as a center who can bring victory.”
Woori Card wore the famous sights of their hometown of Seoul on their backs. Lee Sang-hyun wore ‘Cheonggyecheon’ on his back. “It doesn’t really mean much to me. “When I was a kid, I remember going to play with my parents and stepping on it and slipping, and an old lady saved me,” he said.