Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, August 31, 2023 – Korea, which succumbed to upset 2-3 loss at the hands of AVC Challenge Cup champions Vietnam in their opening match the previous day, stayed on course following their tie-break win against determined Chinese Taipei in their preliminary Pool C match of the 22nd Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship at Chartchai Hall here on Thursday.
Outside hitter Kang Sohwi scored a match-high 25 points from 21 attacks, one block and 3 aces for Korea, while opposite hitter Chang Li-Wen delivered 19 points including 15 attacks from 44 attempts on the Chinese Taipei’s loss.
The Koreans’ winning was also visible in the match stats as the winners dominated in kills (64 to 53) and aces (9 to 5), besides benefiting from more opponent errors (31 to 26). Chinese Taipei got better on blocks, prevailing in that category by 9 to 6.
Against Chinese Taipei on Thursday, Korea made some changes in their lineup. They replaced four players who played in the previous match against Vietnam with Kim Jiwon, Pyo Seungju, Kwon Minji and Jung Hoyoung, but still remained strong with the likes of hard-attacking Kang Sohwi and middle blocker Lee Juah. Chang Li-Wen, Wu Fang-Yu and Chiu Ya-Hui led the Chinese Taipei’s offense.
Korea made a solid start in the opening set to lead with a nine-point clear at 21-12. Chen Tzu-Ya handed Chinese Taipei one crucial point after firing a successful first-tempo attack before the Koreans were uncatchable, bagging four points in a row for the first-set win 25-13.
The second set saw the Koreans overcome their unforced mistakes at the beginning and hit back with combination attacks and well-placed serves to catch Chinese Taipei at 13-13 and went on their superb form to surge ahead the rivals 20-15. Chinese Taipei roared back to reduce the gap 22-24, but the final moment saw a spike from Wu Fang-Yu go wide. Korea took the set 25-22.
Going down 0-2, Chinese Taipei played as if they had nothing to lose in the third set. The Koreans took an early lead 4-1 before Chinese Taipei put their acts together and bounced back mightily to catch up with the Koreans 5-5 and continued their good show to extend it to 20-14. The on-going battle was hotly-contested after that. At 23-23, Chinese Taipei went on to win two straight points to take the third set 25-23.
Their confidence boosted following the set win in the third, Chinese Taipei regained the lead momentarily 20-18 in the fourth set. After that, both sides fought hard to win the set, but Chinese Taipei proved steadier to finish the set off at a hard-fought 25-22 victory.
In the do-or-die tie-breaker, Korea replaced Kwon Minji with Lee Seonwoo and she did not let the team down. The Koreans mixed the offensive mobility between Lee Seonwoo’s aces and Kang Sohwi’s exceptional attacks to lead with a four-point advantage at 10-6 and went on that fine form to win the decider 15-8 and match.
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