Kim Yeon-kyung fought hard with 12 points... Women's volleyball suffers a complete defeat to powerhouse Brazil

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Our women's volleyball team lost in their first match against the world-class Brazil.

The women's volleyball national team was completely defeated by 3rd-ranked Brazil with a set score of 0-3 (10-25, 22-25, 19-25) in the first match of Group A in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic women's volleyball preliminaries held on the 25th at Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan.

Head coach Stefano Lavarini chose right-side hitter Kim Hee-jin (IBK Industrial Bank) and left-side hitter Park Jeong-ah (Korea Expressway Corporation) as the 'side attack partners' for the world-class left-side hitter Kim Yeon-koung (Shanghai, China).

However, from the early stages of the first set, attacks from Park Jeong-ah and Kim Hee-jin were blocked by Brazil's blocking wall, and the serve receive also faltered. In the first set, Korea could barely mount a counterattack, with Kim Yeon-koung attempting only 4 attacks (2 successful).

After losing the crucial second set, Korea collapsed. Coach Lavarini substituted Park Jeong-ah with Lee So-young (KGC Ginseng Corporation) in the mid-to-late second set to strengthen the serve receive line.

However, Brazil accumulated points with Gabriela Guimar?es's central back-row quick attacks, and at 24-22, closed the set with an open attack from Rosamaria Montibeller.

In the third set, Korea fought evenly with Brazil until the middle of the set. But at 15-18, Korea fell irrecoverably behind after Caroline Da Silva scored a service ace.

Kim Yeon-koung fought hard with 12 points, but she was heavily marked without support from teammates. On the other hand, Brazil's wing attackers such as Rodrigues (17 points), Guimar?es (16 points), and Casseyta (10 points) performed evenly.

Korea will rest on the 26th and play their second match against Kenya on the 27th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.