"6 wins and 12 losses → 14 wins and 4 losses → Shutout Upset." Woori Card's Park Chul-woo Magic, what was different

*This content was translated by AI.

Woori Card's Woori WON volleyball team, led by acting coach Park Chul-woo (41), overcame the disadvantage of the away game and succeeded in setting it up.

Woori Card won a 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-18) shutdown victory over KB Insurance in a single round match of Jin Air 2025-2026 V-League postseason semi-playoff (semi-PO) held at Kyungmin University Memorial Hall in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province on the 25th.

As a result, Woori Card erased the humiliation of all two semi-PO losses and challenged the bigger stage. KB Insurance, which ambitiously challenged to win the championship, stopped after one game of spring volleyball. It has also won four consecutive semi-POs since 2011.

It was the first postseason showdown between the two teams. KB Insurance took home advantage by confirming its third place with 19 wins and 17 losses (58 points). Woori Card recorded 20 wins and 16 losses (57 points) with four consecutive wins at the last minute, deciding to advance to spring volleyball as fourth place.

KB Insurance, which is at its peak, was considered a competition with Woori Card. KB Insurance, which has experienced foreign players, national strikers and setters, finished with a 4-2 season advantage in Woori Card. In response, acting coach Park Chul-woo's Woori Card, which advocated a pleasant volleyball "until the end," was led by the next-generation setter Han Tae-joon and a passionate foreign duo, and veterans fought back in a solid form.

The result was a complete victory for Woori Card. Ali Hagparast (registered Ali) scored 18 points, had an attack success rate of 65.22%, and Rafael Arauzo (registered Arauzo) scored 15 points and had an attack success rate of 66.67%.

Above all, it was nice to see the rebound of Korean ace Kim Ji-han. Kim Ji-han blocked KB Insurance's momentum whenever it was decisive with 10 points, including four serve aces, 50% attack success rate, and 41.67% attack efficiency. Veteran middle blockers Park Jin-woo and Lee Sang-hyun bragged about their iron wall by taking advantage of their height advantage, while Isimon became a scene stealer with an altoran-like performance. Setter Han Tae-joon coordinated them with a fast and accurate toss.

On the other hand, foreign player Andres Villena (registered name Villena) of KB Insurance failed to overcome her height limit and scored only 11 points. Na Kyung-bok, who was struggling with injuries at the last minute, scored only three points, and Lim Sung-jin, who should play the ace role, collapsed with only four points and an attack success rate of 17.65%.

It was a game where you could feel the true value of Woori Card, which has changed under acting coach Park Chul-woo. First of all, Woori Card under the former Mauricio Paes coach was not good with 6 wins and 12 losses. The process was not good, so if I lost, I often lost three points. In particular, there was only one victory in the fifth set because it was rarely followed after 20 points.

Acting coach Park Chul-woo, who rushed to the head coach's position during the season, ordered a united look on and off the court regardless of the starting position of the game. During the season, he said after winning the shutdown against Hyundai Capital in the fifth round, "I wanted to see the players like each other so much. This is Woori Card's volleyball I wanted, he said, explaining his direction of wanting to create this atmosphere and sometimes strongly reprimanded the players. The players made it well on their own and followed it well. I hope we will continue to be a team like this in the future," he said.

In fact, Woori Card's team began to show a different appearance by catching the away game in Busan in a full set from the first game. He caught the lead Korean Air and won the away match in Suwon after a close five-set match. Since then, the word "sparkling effect" has disappeared. In the next 18 games, Woori Card, under acting coach Park, won 14 games and lost four games, and won as many as eight away games. Then, Woori Card's second-half move began to be called Park Chul-woo Magic.

Tactically, there was no significant change. However, the temperature difference between inside and outside the court disappeared. The players in the backup zone were enthusiastically warmed up, and the player with the most vivid eyes was put into the court. Each player found his or her role and performed the best performance in his or her place.

Jung Sung-kyu and Kim Dong-young served as scene stealers as one-point servers, while Han Sung-jung and Lee Si-mon filled the vacancy of players who were tired of their skills as much as the main players. In the rear led by Libero Oh Jae-sung and Kim Young-joon and the middlejin led by Park Jin-woo and Lee Sang-hyun, they even felt an obsession to block any ball. As the ball somehow came up to the front and back of the court, the movement of both Araujo and Kim Ji-han became much smoother. Above all, despite the continued sluggishness, the foreign duo's attack success rate of 60% was no coincidence.

As the rear side stabilized, the energetic foreign duo could also control their strength. Excessive behavior during the game was summarized as a bold step to the bench. Kim Jihan is the opposite. The 27-year-old national team outside heater, who had no time to look back on himself despite continued sluggishness, gradually gained confidence with proper rest and time to think, and rewarded him with the best performance at important moments.

In a short three-month period, Woori Card under the acting coach Park made the momentum constant. This is why Hyundai Capital and the best-of-three playoff (PO) are more expected to be held at Cheonan Yu Gwan-sun Gymnasium on the 27th.

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*This content was translated by AI.