“Our trusted outside hitter is not performing well…” Men’s professional volleyball’s Hyundai Capital pushed its chance to end its losing streak to the next match.
Hyundai Capital dropped a hard-fought 2-3 Dodram V League match against Samsung Fire on Monday at Chungmu Gymnasium in Daejeon, South Korea, in a match that went to a full set. The loss was Hyundai Capital’s fifth straight.
HMC dropped the first set to Samsung Fire, but fought back to take the second and third sets. However, they were unable to protect the set lead. After the match, Hyundai Capital head coach Choi Tae-woong said, “The outside hitter, who we trusted, is not working well,” and added, “I’m worried because the slump is continuing.”
“That puts a lot of pressure on Ahmed (Libya),” Choi said. Today (Jan. 1), Ahmed played his role for the first time in a long time, but it didn’t go well for the domestic players, especially the outside hitters. We’re trying different things, but it’s not working,” he said, adding, “We don’t have the right answers.”
Ahmed finished with 28 points and a 58.1 percent offensive success rate. However, as Choi mentioned, the offense did not work well for the outside hitters, including Jeon Kwang-in, Heo Su-bong, and Hong Dong-sun. In particular, Heo Su-bong had a 33.3 percent success rate from four-point range.
Coach Choi is worried about Jeon Kwang-in, who is not at his best due to injury. We need to give him as much rest as possible, but we can’t do that. “We need to win the game and give (Jeon) time to recover, but it’s frustrating,” Choi said, “so I think the only answer is to train.”
“The team atmosphere is good, but I’m more worried about the players losing confidence due to the long losing streak,” he added. Choi’s expression darkened as he said this. With the loss, Hyundai Capital suffered its 10th defeat of the season (two wins).
He was also worried about his main setter Lee Hyun-seung. “I know that no matter what happens with (Lee) Hyun-seung, we are trying to revitalize our outside hitters and reduce the pressure on Ahmed,” Choi said, “but I don’t see a breakthrough right now. That’s why I’m more worried.”
In the first game of the third round, the team will meet Samsung Fire again. They will be looking to end their five-game losing streak at Yoo Yoo-soon Gymnasium in Cheonan on April 5.