South Korea - Women's V-League 2019-2020

    Congratulations to Hyundai E&C for winning the 2019 KOVO Cup :cup:.


    This is the third KOVO Cup win for Hyundai and it is their first in 5 years (with their previous win coming in 2006 and 2014). I am amazed at the fact that over five games, Hyundai had to play 24 sets from a possible 25 to be crowned this year champion. Overall, the 2019 KOVO Cup was very competitive between the six V-League teams, with 7 out of 9 matches going to the fifth set. This year MVP Go Ye-Rim looks like a really good addition for Hyundai, maybe she will be the missing link to help them to win a third championship.

    Well done to KGC too, fighting back from two sets down to take the game to the fifth set against Hyundai. Seriously, I didn't think they would even make it to the final after such a poor opening match with Heungkuk. KGC heavy reliance on their foreign player remains.

    Hyundai had a great chance to end the game in the fourth set leading 17-10 but let that lead erode down to 23-22. Then with 2 spiking errors and one reception failure, Hyundai handed the set to KGC to take the match to a fifth set :aww:.

    KGC led right from the start and it looks like KGC would win back-to-back KOVO Cup. But after reaching match point with the score at 14-11, KGC then goes and return the favour to Hyundai by committing three costly errors (reception failure, position violation, and spiking error) to be trailing Hyundai 14-15 :wall:. The two teams then traded a few points before Jeong Ji-Yun gave Hyundai a third match point with a block-out. Ji-Yun then won the match for Hyundai by blocking Diouf backcourt spike.


    Some good performances from a few of the youngster at this tournament, GS Caltex Park Hye-Min [OH], Heungkuk Lee Ju-Ah [MB], KGC Ha Hyo-Rim [S], and Hyundai E&C Kim Da-In [S] and Jeong Ji-Yun [MB] :drink:.

    Quote from theloneracer

    Congratulations to Hyundai E&C for winning the 2019 KOVO Cup :cup: .

    I dozed off when the third set began. Maybe it's because I have some attachment to KGC but it looked to me like they were playing better. I was surprised when I looked at the score and they were always losing. Then they mount a comeback and I miss it :(. It was a great stream and a good party but the WC schedule has me bonkers.


    Oh the foreigners

    I always wonder why there's no korean players playing abroad except KYK. Is the rules and regulation making it harder for them to play outside korean league?


    Watching recent world cup, I think some of them has the potential to play in Europe. Having experience abroad can be good for national team players in international competition

    Quote from tiffany

    I always wonder why there's no korean players playing abroad except KYK. Is the rules and regulation making it harder for them to play outside korean league?


    Watching recent world cup, I think some of them has the potential to play in Europe. Having experience abroad can be good for national team players in international competition

    Probably because communication is one of the problem why asian players specifically china, korea and japan even thailand. English is not their native language, though club team can provide translator but it's difficult and would take time for player to adjust. Other conflicts would be the culture, the type of plays and the pressure.


    Of all asian foreign players that played in europe only kyk and zhu ting was successful. Even saori kimura struggled in turkey with vakif and galatasaray.

    Quote from sitenoise

    I dozed off when the third set began. Maybe it's because I have some attachment to KGC but it looked to me like they were playing better. I was surprised when I looked at the score and they were always losing. Then they mount a comeback and I miss it :(. It was a great stream and a good party but the WC schedule has me bonkers.


    Oh the foreigners

    Sorry to burst your bubble but I think it will be another tough season for KGC. I still have my doubt about KGC, particularly their reliance on their foreign player. All of KGC rival teams will get a big boost to their offence with the return of their NT players. KGC on the other hand not so much. Beside Diouf and Choi Eun-Ji, KGC needs another player to contribute a decent amount of points during the season to be competitive. One positive for KGC is they do have a lot of young players with potential (most of them having been part of a junior NT). The question is whether they can grow further or not.


    Too bad for you that channel only broadcast a volleyball match maybe once or twice each season.




    Quote from tiffany

    I always wonder why there's no korean players playing abroad except KYK. Is the rules and regulation making it harder for them to play outside korean league?


    Watching recent world cup, I think some of them has the potential to play in Europe. Having experience abroad can be good for national team players in international competition

    Quote from MyNameIst.

    Probably because communication is one of the problem why asian players specifically china, korea and japan even thailand. English is not their native language, though club team can provide translator but it's difficult and would take time for player to adjust. Other conflicts would be the culture, the type of plays and the pressure.


    Of all asian foreign players that played in europe only kyk and zhu ting was successful. Even saori kimura struggled in turkey with vakif and galatasaray.

    Further to what Kostlich has already mentioned, I think that money is another big reason as to why there aren't more Korean players playing overseas. Korean players are already getting paid pretty good money in their domestic league. I don't think foreign teams will fork out the same amount or more money for Korean player, not unless they are another KYK. I think overseas teams would rather use that money on an American or European player instead. Another reason is that young players have to play for six seasons (must play a certain amount of games) in their domestic league. This was the decision that KVA and KOVO put in places after the fiasco with Heungkuk and KYK.


    And if I recall correctly, beside KYK, retired Korean volleyball player Han Yoo-Mi and Kim Sa-Nee both did play overseas at one point in their career.




    Here are some fan cams for two of the exhibition matches from a month ago and the cup final.

    Display Spoiler




    Also, if anyone is interested, the 100th National Athletic Competition (NAC) is currently taking place over 5 days between 2019.10.05 ~ 2019.10.09. http://bj.afreecatv.com/jipuragi is streaming only the female volleyball games for the 100th NAC. For the female there are two divisions, the first division is for the women's high schools (which include some of the recently drafted players) and the other division is a general women's division for the non-pro teams and university teams. The competition is in a 1-game knockout format.


    I believe the live stream is available to viewer worldwide since I can watch it. But watching the video on demand is restricted to viewer inside Korea (don't ask me why). The live streaming is active if there is a red dot flashing next to "Live" on the right left side of the webpage. They also have a youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChWLuEWy791etTfDlKarl_w but they only upload some of the games there.


    I will have a look for the scheduling later. Previously, the first game starts usually start around 10:00 KST each day.


    The schedule can be found here https://national.sports.or.kr/scheduleall.do.

    Sorry, I can't directly link just the female volleyball games schedule. There will be 3 drop down menu.You will need to select

    배구 (Volleyball) in the first. In the second, select either 여자고등부 (Women's High School) or 여자일반부 (Women's General). Thirdly, select

    단체전 (Team Exhibition) and then press the button with a magnifying glass next to it. It will then show a diagram of the fixture. Also, just below to the side there are three buttons, one of them is a blue button the other two a grey buttons. Clicking the grey button next to the blue (the one in the middle) will take you to a table format of the schedule. Clicking the button on the right will show the result of the completed matches.

    ah I see. No wonder. I heard about KYK fiasco too but don't know the details much


    I just hope more players get opportunity playing abroad coz we can see there's not much improvement in korean team before Lavarini came. Or they can open for foreigners to be assistant coach to v-league teams or something, if they still want to be competitive at international stage.


    But I get it.Money is a BIG factor too, for anyone. Even for me lol

    Quote from theloneracer

    Sorry to burst your bubble but I think it will be another tough season for KGC

    I always remain loyal to the team that opens the door for me (like NEC and KGC and Japan NT for that matter), although I may reassess this if the player most responsible for dragging me in leaves the team--Han Soo-ji I'm looking at you. they still have the sassy libero, right? And the Rino Murooka little squirt OH who reminds me of Ellen Page. That KOVO Cup was great. No foreigners, and KGC did well. I like to root for players I like (for whatever reason) more than just applaud those who win and score the most points. I'll root for the Lee Twins when they play NT. I want them crushed in Club :rolll:


    I might follow Han Soo-ji to GS C. They were my second fave. Love their heavy perspiring setter. And of course Kang Sohwi (or am I behind on where these girls are?

    Quote from tiffany

    But I get it.Money is a BIG factor too, for anyone. Even for me lol

    Not sure if you have seen this in one of my previous posts, but just to give you a rough idea what some of the top players in the Korean league are earning. The top female earners, Yang Hyo-Jin and Park Jeong-Ah are both making 350M KRW this year, which is roughly 293.5K USD (1000 KRW = 0.84 USD) or 267.4K Euro (1000 KRW = 0.76 Euro). Plus, Korean teams provide the players with accommodation and food too.




    Quote from sitenoise

    I always remain loyal to the team that opens the door for me (like NEC and KGC and Japan NT for that matter), although I may reassess this if the player most responsible for dragging me in leaves the team--Han Soo-ji I'm looking at you. they still have the sassy libero, right? And the Rino Murooka little squirt OH who reminds me of Ellen Page. That KOVO Cup was great. No foreigners, and KGC did well. I like to root for players I like (for whatever reason) more than just applaud those who win and score the most points. I'll root for the Lee Twins when they play NT. I want them crushed in Club :rolll:


    I might follow Han Soo-ji to GS C. They were my second fave. Love their heavy perspiring setter. And of course Kang Sohwi (or am I behind on where these girls are?

    The sassy libero, I'm guessing you are referring to Oh Ji-Young. Yes, KGC still got her. Well, at least for another year. She will have free agent status at the end of the season.


    The Rino Murooka little squirt OH, I'm going to take another punt and guess you are referring to #10 Chae Seon-Ah. Seon-Ah is nowhere near as small as Rino. Seon-Ah (175cm) is a good 14cm (5.5 inches) taller than Rino (161cm). GS Caltex Han Su-Jin would be a closer resemblance of Rino than Seon-Ah. Su-Jin is like 165cm and she has played as an outside hitter, as a setter, and as a libero.


    No, you are not behind, An Hye-Jin and Kang So-Hwi are still with GS.

    You got all the players correct :thumbup:


    The KOVO cup didn't come through for me this year ... streaming was a bit off--and I demand quality HD streams from Koreans--and the schedule was tight because of World Cup, and I took a fancy to the ASEAN Grand Prix--which did start off with pre-announced HD streams there for the taking :)


    I'm bummed the Korean League matches are on at midnight and 3:00am my time. Since Japan plays only Friday and Saturday, I could see myself interested in something to do M,T,W (my time), but 3:00am :( I can sacrifice a week or two for that, for a tournament with a conclusion, but not a whole season :P


    Edit: It occurs to me that after Daylight Savings Time turns off the first Korean match would be at 11:00pm (if I have my math right). That's doable. Will there be good streams?

    I'm glad Hyundai Hillstate won the tournament... It's a good start.. I hope they won't be like last season with all the losing streak in 1st and 2nd round, though they came back in 3rd round..


    It seems the new players made an impact to their performance...

    Quote from sitenoise

    The KOVO cup didn't come through for me this year ... streaming was a bit off--and I demand quality HD streams from Koreans

    Naver got a treasure trove of 1080p quality videos. I just don't why you can't get the video on Naver to work.

    I'm curious, is there anyone else here who is using a VPN and can't watch the v-league game videos on Naver?




    The v-league games are shared between SBS Sports and KBSN Sports. Last season, Laola1.tv https://www.laola1.tv/en-int/streamed the games. I'm not sure about this season as I can only find the men's games on their schedule and not the women's games.


    You can find which broadcaster is showing which games by going to KOVO main page https://www.kovo.co.kr/main.asp or find them on the women's V-League schedule page https://www.kovo.co.kr/game/v-…016&yymm=2019-10&s_part=2.


    SBS Sports official stream http://play.sbs.co.kr/onair/pc/index.html?id=S02 (Korea only). I wasn't able to check if this stream actually work at all as I got this message "On-air service is not available due to copyright issues" during a broadcast of a Korean baseball match. SBS Sports tv scheduling - http://w3.sbs.co.kr/schedule/s…depth03=ESPN&channel=ESPN.


    Sadly, it looks like KBSN Sports does not provide an official online stream anymore. I found this message whilst browsing their website "KBSN broadcasts can be viewed on the KBS homepage. However, sports channels are not serviced by copyright". KBSN Sports tv scheduling http://www.kbsn.co.kr/schedule/index?dt=&ch=SPORTS.


    Naver online live streaming of games can be found on https://tv.naver.com/l/schedule (click on the ball with 스포츠 written below to filter sport related programs). However, they are also restricted to Korean viewers too. Plus I think you need to install an extension for this.


    Naver volleyball VOD (the treasure trove) https://sports.news.naver.com/…/index.nhn?category=wkovo. Some videos found here are available to view by everyone but the videos of the game are only available to Korean viewers. Sometimes I get lucky the videos of the game just work without using a VPN.


    The finally options is looking on one of those Russian betting stream website. ||

    Quote from ian3373

    I'm glad Hyundai Hillstate won the tournament... It's a good start.. I hope they won't be like last season with all the losing streak in 1st and 2nd round, though they came back in 3rd round..


    It seems the new players made an impact to their performance...

    Hyundai had a few problems last season, particularly their receptions. OH Becky Perry didn't quite work out for Hyundai. Losing MB Kim Se-Young was a massive loss but putting last season best rookie Jeong Ji-Yun into the middle position helped a lot. Veteran OP Hwang Youn-Joo is slowly declining. Hwang Min-Kyung didn't play great at the start of the season either however she did improve later on.


    I have to say it is really hard to rank the six teams this year but I do think Hyundai is a pretty balanced team overall.


    Btw, this article http://thespike.co.kr/article/view.php?no=12169 analysis each team so far and how they could lineup.

    Quote from theloneracer

    Btw, this article http://thespike.co.kr/article/view.php?no=12169 analysis each team so far and how they could lineup.

    Cool. I was going to ask you to write an article like that :)

    News Update:


    • Just a little over a week before the new V-League season begins, news of another foreign player getting replace comes out. This time it is Korea Expressway Hi-pass.

      It was reported that Atkinson picked up a right knee ligament injury (rupture of the medial collateral ligament) during team training. After a hospital examination, it was revealed that Atkinson needs four weeks of rest and another four weeks for rehabilitation. Hence Korea Expressway Hi-pass have decided to replace Sherridan Atkinson.

      Reports also state that Atkinson's replacement is former Heungkuk's foreign player Taylor Cook (nee Simpsons). This will be Cook's third stints in the Korean V-League with her two previous stints all ending early due to injuries. Let hope she last the season this time around for Hi-pass sake. Cook arrived in South Korea at Incheon International Airport on the 6th and joined the Squad after completing the medical test.

      Sources: 1, 2, 3
    • More bad news for Hi-pass. The team parent company Korea Expressway Corp's headquarter has been occupied by retrenched tollgate collectors protesting against their dismissals for about a month now. The team's training complex and dormitory are also located at the site of the company headquarter. Due to noise and safety issues, Hi-pass have been forced to search for new temporary training facility and dormitory for their players. Hi-pass even had to rent KGC training complex before the KOVO Cup.

      Sources: 1, 2, 3
    • I forgot to post this follow-up piece of news regarding Hi-pass new team uniform. Korea Expressway Hi-pass announced they have signed a sponsorship agreement with Korean outdoor brand Kolon Sports. Kolon Sport will provide the team with clothing starting from 2019/2020 season.

      Sources: 1, 2, 3

    Taylor Simpson? didn't she has lots of problems when she's with heungkuk before?

    kinda surprised she's chosen


    btw, korean system of 'getting rid' of foreign players right away when they suddenly got injured seems so cruel

    but since they got paid a lot, ofc the club wants the good result


    but still, so cruel!

    Taylor has played for Heungkuk twice. Each time her stint ended early with her picking up an injury. Hi-pass decided to signed Taylor after taking into consideration her playing abilities, her availability on short notice, her experiences with the league, and the fact they didn't have to pay a release fee to another team.


    Yeah, it is cruel.


    If you look at it from the team perspective, Atkinson will be out for 2 months. This means she will be out for about 10 matches, a third of the season. Hi-pass can't afford to be without a foreign player for that long. It might take away any chances of them reaching the playoffs or the finals. Look at what happens with KGC and Alaina last season when Alaina was injured.

    Maybe because no other foreign players available at this moment. If not all, most of them are with their club teams already. So, there is shortage or limited player to be selected. Maybe taylor was the last option.

    Quote from MyNameIst.

    Or maybe they are not satisfied with her performance (written in her contract) and injury issue is just a coverup.

    Atkinson didn't play that badly during KOVO Cup. I don't think it was enough to warrant the change. Changing an average performing player whose team lost in two five-sets matches with another player who has a history of injuries. I can't see the logic in Hi-pass doing that.


    Atkinson stats for the 3 group stage matches during the KOVO Cup:

    - 3rd overall with 72 points including 7 blocks and 5 aces (only behind Lutz and Anae).

    - 9th overall in block kills with an average of 0.58 block per set.

    - 5th overall for serve aces with an average of 0.42 ace per set.

    - 6th overall in attack with 38.22% success rate (60 spikes/157 attempts), and efficiency of 22.93% (7 blocked spikes and 17 spiking errors).

    Speacial V Live with Hyundai E&C


    Maya and Lee Da-Yeong


    Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoAD-AAbKj0

    Rookies Kim Hyun-Ji & Lee Da-Hyun and then Hwang Youn-Joo & Jeong Si-Young


    Part 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFMXCMEBW5I

    Jeong Ji-Yun & Go Ye-Rim


    Part 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F95Ru-wKT8

    Yang Hyo-Jin & Kim Yeon-Gyeon


    Part 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If--HEl1BJI

    Go Yoo-Min & Hwang Min-Kyung

    If anyone is interested, today at 14:00 KST (in less than 1 hour time) both SBS Sports and KBSN Sports will broadcast the 2019/20 Women's V-League Media Day. Like everything else, it is all in Korean except for the responses from the foreign players.


    - Heungkuk: Park Mi-Hee, Lee Jae-Yeong, Lucia Fresco

    - Expressway: Kim Jong-Min, Park Jeong-Ah*, n/a **

    - GS Caltex: Cha Sang-Hyun, Kang So-Hwi, Merete Lutz

    - IBK Altos: Kim Woo-Jae, Pyo Seung-Ju, Adora Anae

    - Hyundai: Lee Doo-Hee, Lee Da-Yeong, Milagros Collar

    - KGC: Seo Nam-Won, Oh Ji-Young, Valentina Diouf


    * Not 100% sure but I have seen posts saying that Moon Jung-Won will appear instead of Park Jeong-Ah at Media Day.

    ** No mention of Taylor Cook (nee Simpson) attending Media Day.


    Sources: https://www.kovo.co.kr/news/61…vonews_view.asp?num=25968


    EDIT: SBS have move the broadcast of the V-League Media Day to 18:00 KST.


    You can watch on Naver at https://sports.news.naver.com/…alletc&gameId=20191017WB1 (live stream only and no VPN needed).