On the 23rd, Pepper Savings Bank scored six sub-scores and won 3-2 at Korea Expressway Corporation
The Korea Expressway Corporation beat Pepper Savings Bank in the last game of the fifth round on its home turf.
Korea Expressway Corporation High Pass, led by head coach Kim Jong-min, won set-score 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 25-19, 17-25, 15-8) in a home game against the Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers in the fifth round of the Dodram 2024-2025 V-League at Gimcheon Indoor Gymnasium in North Gyeongsang Province on the 23rd. Korea Expressway Corporation, which added two pleasing points after more than two hours of struggle, finished its fifth round schedule by narrowing the point gap with fourth-ranked IBK Industrial Bank Altos to two points (12 wins, 18 losses, 35 points).
The Korea Expressway Corporation scored 27 points with a 48.15% success rate, while the second-year middle blocker Kim Se-bin scored 13 points, including seven blocks, showing good performance. And Merelin Nicolova, a foreign player at the Korea Expressway Corporation who scored 19 points with six sub-scores, three rear-end attacks and two blocks, failed to make her first triple crown in the V-League due to a lack of one block.
foreign players in the V League responsible for team attacks
The V-League is considered to have a very high proportion of foreign players. In fact, there were a number of foreign players who led the men's team to victory, such as Gavin Schmidt, Leonardo Leiva Martinez (Hyundai Capital Skywalkers) and Robert Randy Simone (Palabolo Piacenza). In the women's team, there was a legendary foreign player named Madelaine Montagno, who won the KGC Ginseng Corporation (currently known as the Red Sparks).
Each team has a very high share of foreign players this season as well. The most representative team is GS Caltex KIXX, which has Gisele Silva, the top scorer (814 points). Silva, who ranked first in scores (1,005 points) and first in attack success rate (46.8 percent) last season, is responsible for high attack share of 40.16 percent even though he missed four games due to calf and ankle injuries this season. Silva is the only player who has surpassed 15 percent of GS Caltex's share this season.
Victoria Danchak of Industrial Bank of Korea, who remained the top scorer until Silva became the top scorer by scoring 33.5 points per game in the fifth round, is also a foreign player who accounts for a very high proportion in her team. Victoria who played in 112 sets in all 30 games played by IBK this season has posted 750 points with 41.44 percent of the market share. However, Victoria's success rate, which was over 40 percent in the latter half of the season, has dropped to 39.62 percent.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate's Letizia Moma Vasoko, who has been responsible for a steady high attack share since she played for GS Caltex, also maintains a high market share with 35.87 percent this season. Moma has achieved a high success rate of 40.8 percent this season thanks to her outstanding power, athletic ability and abundant V-League experience. However, as Wipawi Shitong is out for the season due to a knee injury, Moma will likely feel more burdened at the end of the season. 먹튀검증
With the proportion of foreign players in each club being very high, Tutku bourgeois of the leading Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders alone has a low 18.29 percent share of offense. Of course, this is most due to missing 11 games due to knee injury that he suffered in the third round. Even without injury, Tutku would not have had to take responsibility for the high share of Heungkuk Life, which has Kim Yeon-koung (29.1 percent share), Jung Yoon-ju (21.96%) and Anilis Peach (11.68 percent).
Nicolova with young age and strong serve
Nicolova, a foreign player at the Korea Expressway Corporation, is a Bulgarian left-handed Apogit Spiker who has played in European leagues such as Bulgaria, Romania, Turkiye, and Greece since 2021. She participated in a foreign player tryout last year and was named the third person overall by the Korea Expressway Corporation. Her small height of 183 centimeters and young age, born in 2003, seemed to act as a bridgehead for foreign players, but coach Kim Jong-min pinned his hopes on Nicolova's potential.
After receiving the nomination from KNOC, Nikolova scored 30 points in the match against Korea in the Ballyball Nations League held in May last year, raising expectations of KNOC and its fans. KNOC, however, experienced the negative factor that forced the exit of Uniesca Robles Batista from the Asian quarter just two games after the opening. Worse yet, KNOC was delayed in recruiting the new Asian quarter and was pushed to the bottom due to confusion in the setter position until Kim Dae-eun settled down.
While the Korea Expressway Corporation was in chaos due to the Asian quarter and setter issues, Nicolova has not been a "saviour" for the team. Nicolova, who is far from a "all-out" foreign player like Silvana Victoria, participated in 118 sets in all 30 games played by the Korea Expressway Corporation, but only had a 27.83 percent share and a 37.84 percent success rate. This season, Nicolova has scored 515 points, less than Meghatty Puttiwi (709 points for director Jeong) and Kim Yeon-koung (546 points) in the Asian quarter.
However, Nicolova clearly showed her value to the home fans through a game against Pepper Savings Bank on Sunday. She played strong serve, her specialty, on the day, and scored a whopping six serve points. Having attempted serve in 22 sessions on the day, Nicolova made far more serve attempts than other players including Kim Se-bin (14th), Tanacha, Bae Yu-na and Kim Dae-eun (13th). This means that Korea Expressway Corporation scored more points in the turn of serve by Nicolova.
Of course, Nicolova's scoring ability in this season seems to be somewhat lacking for Korea Expressway Corporation, which wants a clear solution. However, it is not easy to find a foreign player who can stably perform powerful serve like her. Furthermore, since she was born in 2003 and is only 21 years old, Nicolova has endless potential for growth. Eventually, her performance in the remaining six games of the sixth round will deepen coach Kim Jong-min's concern about renewing her contract.