Once again, after the first game didn’t go their way, they fell apart. Fighting spirit and morale were hard to find.
South Korea fell to Croatia 0-3 (23-25, 21-25, 14-25) on Sunday morning (July 17) at the FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL) Week 2 at the Nielsen Nielsen Arena in Brasilia, Brazil.
Week two, with just one match left to play, was once again fruitless. The Croatians, who had beaten Korea at the World Championships in September last year, bombarded Korea this time.
Once again, Korea showed a lack of resilience in the second and third sets, falling behind after taking an early lead. They have now lost a total of seven matches in the first and second rounds this year. They couldn’t even win a set. Combined with last year’s VNL matches, this is a total of 19 straight losses.
Jung Ho-young had 10 points, Pyo Seung-joo nine, and Jeong Ji-yoon, Moon Ji-yoon, and Kang So-hwi five apiece. For Croatia, Shamadan had 18 points, Karatovic 11, and Mihaljevic 9.메이저놀이터
The first set was a back-and-forth affair. With the score tied at 4-4, Milosic’s back-to-back shots fell short. Moon made a difficult attack cover but missed the subsequent attack. With three points, Croatia took the lead. Moon Ji-yoon’s follow-up was unsuccessful.
Pyo Seung-joo’s hit was successful and Lee Da-hyun scored directly afterward. The score was tied at 14-14. Later in the game, Jung Ho-young’s service ace gave Korea the lead for good. With five straight points, Korea was on the verge of winning the first set. However, a series of unforced errors brought the score to 23-23, and their opponents had match point first. Mihaljevic’s last point gave Croatia the 25-23 victory.
Croatia celebrates after scoring, FIVB
The second set started with Croatia taking a two-point lead. Down 6-8, Pyo Seung-joo’s attack was blocked and the momentum shifted in Croatia’s favor. In a disappointing situation, Kang So-hwi came up with a high push to bring the score to one point.
The score was tied at 13-13. There was a long rally with shaky receptions. Jeong Ji-yoon’s attack brought the score back to 1-1, but then Croatia scored back-to-back points to overtake them again. The gap gradually widened. The second half of the set was uneventful. Shamadan scored in the last minute to give Croatia the second set 25-21.
After dropping the first and second sets, South Korea’s morale dropped dramatically. In the third set, Croatia’s main attackers scored in quick succession. Both their concentration and reception faltered, and they were caught off guard. They were down 10-19. Pyo Seung-joo’s attack was blocked by Martina, giving her match point, and Antunovic’s double pass-painting attack ended the match.
Korea will conclude the second week of the tournament against Germany on the morning of the 19th. They will return home via Incheon International Airport on the 21st and begin their third week in Korea on the 27th.