GS Caltex Women’s Volleyball continued its lead in the standings with a thrilling come-from-behind victory.
GS Caltex came from behind to defeat Korea Expressway Corporation 3-2 (16-25 17-25 25-17 25-21 15-11) in their 2023-2024 Dodram V League Women’s Division home match at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul on Sunday. After dropping the first and second sets, the team made a strong comeback to give the home fans a thrilling victory. Second-ranked GS Caltex 텍사스홀덤 lost one game after winning three in a row to open the season and then won two more in a row to close the gap on leader Heungkuk Life (14 points, 5-1).
The first set was a roadblock. The team jumped out to a 9-0 lead at the start of the first set. At 15-8, they won the set on a sensational push by Vanya Vukiric and a service point by Lee Yoon-jung. Roadworks’ attack success rate was poor at 40% (3 bumshills), while GS Caltex’s dropped to 30%. They were 3-8 in unforced errors.
In the second set, Silva picked up the scoring pace, but DOT was still in control thanks to a variety of scoring routes. At 2-2, the roadworks scored six points in a row. Vukiric scored 10 points, Asian Quarter Tanacha added four, and Moon Jung-won and Kim Se-bin each had three.
Pushed to the brink, GS Caltex was able to focus in the third set. Kang So-hwi and Silva scored seven points each to revive the team. At 11-9, Kang So-hwi made two kills to turn the tide. At 15-11, Silva’s open attack combined with two opponent errors changed the momentum. GS Caltex scored the next seven points to even the match at 15-15 in the fourth set.
GS Caltex had the last laugh in the fifth set. At 6-5, Kwon Min-ji’s open attack was followed by Kang So-hwi’s open attack and Moon Ji-yoon’s block to extend the lead. At 12-11, GS Caltex was in danger, but a timeout attack by Kwon Min-ji got them over the hump, and then Kim Min-ji scored on back-to-back serves to end the two-and-a-half-hour match. Silva and Kang So-hwi led the way with 28 and 22 points, respectively.
The Roadrunners missed out on a second straight win due to a lack of heart, despite Vukiric exploding for a team-high 36 points, including a triple-crown, and Tanacha with 20.
They had to settle for one more point (6W-1L-5D) to move up from sixth to fifth place.
In the men’s game, Korean Air had the laugh in the battle of the foreign managers. Korean Air, coached by Tommi Tilikainen, swept OK Financial Group, coached by Masashi Ogino, in straight sets 3-0 (25-20 26-24 25-15) at home. With their third straight win, Korean Air finished the first round in third place with 13 points (4-2). OK Financial Group (10 points, 4-2), which was in third place before the match, failed to add any points and dropped to fourth place.