‘Twice-compensated player’ Kim Joo-hyang to take over the starting role

Hyundai E&C reclaimed the lead after sending Roadworks to their third straight loss in the opening round.

Hyundai E&C Hillstate, led by head coach Kang Sung-hyung, won the first round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League Women’s Division 3-1 (19-25,25-21,25-23,25-22) at home against Korea Road Corporation Highpass at Suwon Gymnasium on Friday. Hyundai E&C, who were victorious in the playoffs last season, became the first team to reach the 10-point plateau and moved into sole possession of first place in the standings (3-1), ahead of the Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders (8 points).

Yang Hyo-jin led the way for HMC with 23 points on 64.29 percent offensive success, including four blocks, while Leticia Moma Basoko added 22 points on 40.29 percent shooting. HMC also had a 9-7 advantage in the blocking battle, with Wipawi Sithong scoring six points and Lee Da-hyun recording one block on the day. Kim Joo-hyang, a 180-centimeter outside hitter, had 11 points with three blocks on the day.

The 180-centimeter outside hitter’s receiving prowess was on display.

Hyundai E&C has been a steady performer in the V-League since its inception, winning only two titles in the past 19 seasons, but also finishing in last place only twice. However, the team’s consistency in the V-League means that it hasn’t gotten a favorable pick in the rookie draft the following year. In fact, in the last 20 rookie drafts, Hyundai E&C has only had one season in which it received the No. 1 overall pick (Yeom Hye-sun in the 2008-2009 season).

After finishing fourth in the regular season in 2016-2017, Hyundai E&C earned the third overall pick in the 2017-2018 rookie draft as well, losing out to GS Caltex KIXX and Roadworks. The good news for Hyundai E&C is that the 2017-2018 rookie draft was considered to be devoid of any clear-cut big-name prospects. At the very least, the late pick meant that they were less likely to lose out on a big-name rookie who could be the future of their team.

While GS Caltex, which had the first pick, selected multiplayer Han Soo-jin from Suwon Jeonsan Girls’ High School (now Hanbom High School) and Road Corporation selected setter Lee Won-jung (Heungkuk Life) from Sunmyeong Girls’ High School, third-ranked Hyundai E&C selected Kim Joo-hyang from Gwangju Chego (Hyundai E&C had the good fortune of selecting current national team setter Kim Da-in with the fourth pick of the second round in that year’s rookie draft). Kim was one of the biggest names in the offense, so it wasn’t a bad pick for his draft position.

However, in the 2017-2018 season, Hyundai E&C signed foreign player Elizabeth Campbell and free agent Hwang Min-kyung (IBK Altos) to fill the two outside hitter spots. At the time, Hwang was ranked 12th in the league in scoring (378 points), so there was no need to target an outside hitter. In the end, Kim Ju-hyang only scored 15 points in six games in her rookie season, losing the Rookie of the Year title to Kim Chae-yeon (Heungkuk Life).

In her second year as a pro, the 2018-2019 season saw Hyundai E&C sign foreign-born apogee spiker Milagros Kola (real name Maya), giving Kim more playing time as an outside hitter. But aside from her offensive output of 83 points in 22 games, her receiving efficiency of just 19.68% was poor as an outside hitter. His focus on offense in high school led to him neglecting his receiving game, and that’s what held him back in the pros.

Returning to her family as a compensatory player after a four-year absence

After the 2018-2019 season ended, Hyundai E&C decided that Kim Joo-hyang could not continue to play as a starter and signed outside hitter Ko Yerim from the free agency market, and Kookmin Bank named Kim Joo-hyang as a compensation player for his outstanding potential. In his first season with the team, Kim had his best season since his professional debut, scoring 222 points in 25 games while switching between outside hitter and outside hitter-spiker. That’s certainly a lot of opportunities compared to his time at Hyundai E&C.

But even at IBK, Kim’s shaky serve was often in his way. Kim competed with Yuk Seo-young for the starting role in the 2020-2021 season, which featured foreigner apogee spiker Anna Lazareva (Beijing BAIC Motor), and scored 221 points in 26 games. In the 2021-2022 season, she took advantage of the chaos of the foreign player rotation and scored 266 points in 29 games. However, in the 2022-2023 season, when Dali Santana (PFU Blue Cats) became the starter, she was completely pushed out of the competition.온라인카지노

After declining to re-sign Santana after last season, IBK signed Hwang Min-kyung in free agency, while Hyundai E&C named Kim Joo-hyang, who left the team four years ago, as a compensation player. Kim Joo-hyang, who left the team four years ago as a compensation player, was named a compensation player again and made a comeback to his home team. With Hwang Min-kyung’s departure and Ko Yerim’s injury, Kim’s role has grown and he has been the main outside hitter for Hyundai E&C this season, partnering with Asia Quarter Wipawi.

In fact, Kim’s performance hasn’t changed much from his time at IBK. With 38 points in four games at a 34.57% success rate, Kim is the team’s third or fourth option behind Moma and Yang Hyo-jin. Encouragingly, however, she has eight blocks in three games (0.47 per set). Kim also showed off her blocking ability as an outside hitter by grabbing three blocks in the 25th match against Roadworks.

However, Kim’s 21.11% reception efficiency in four games is something that needs to be improved. While Wipawi has improved his reception efficiency to 31.2%, Kim’s reception hasn’t shown any signs of improvement.

If Kim’s reception anxiety continues, he will be an easy target for opposing teams. How well he stabilizes his reception before Jeong Ji-yoon returns will determine his place on the team this season and his future playing time.