"They really are the champions": GS Caltex, "Silva-Kwon Min-ji-Tanacha erupt for 51 points" to rout Korea Expressway Corporation in a sweep [Jangchung on-site review]

*This content was translated by AI.View Original

They truly were the defending champions. Seoul GS Caltex announced a strong start toward their pursuit of a second consecutive title.

On the 31st, at Jangchung Gymnasium in Jung-gu, Seoul, GS Caltex defeated Gimcheon Korea Expressway Corporation by a set score of 3-0 (25-18, 25-21, 25-22) in the opening match of the 2026-2027 HK Hyeongguk Life V-League women's division.

Defending champion GS Caltex won the Cup Tournament and secured a pleasant victory in the opener, proving their status as the top favorite for the championship.

GS Caltex started the first set with outside hitter Tanacha Suksoth (registered name: Tanacha), middle blocker Oh Se-yeon, opposite spiker Giselle Silva (registered name: Silva), outside hitter Kwon Min-ji, middle blocker Choi Ga-eun, and setter Kim Ji-won. The liberos were Han Su-jin and Choi Yoon-young.

Korea Expressway Corporation countered with outside hitter Park Jeong-a, middle blocker Kim Hyeon-ji, opposite spiker Leticia Moma Basoko (registered name: Moma), outside hitter Uchiseto Mami (registered name: Mami), middle blocker Kim Se-bin, and setter Kim Da-eun. The libero was Moon Jeong-won.

GS Caltex took the lead from the start. Led by Silva, who won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, Kwon Min-ji launched powerful attacks on the opposite side, while service aces from Oh Se-yeon and Kim Ji-won rattled Korea Expressway Corporation.

Setter Kim Ji-won exploited the fact that the opposing blocking and defense were focused on Silva, utilizing not only Kwon Min-ji and Tanacha on the left but also central attacks and time-difference plays to trouble the Korea Expressway Corporation defense. GS Caltex's offense was not overly concentrated on Silva alone, but when blocked, they found solutions through her.

In the first set, Silva scored 8 points solo, while Kwon Min-ji added 6 points and Tanacha contributed 4. Choi Ga-eun and Oh Se-yeon each added a blocking point, contributing 3 and 2 points respectively, as GS Caltex successfully seized the initiative with diverse attacking routes.

Conversely, Korea Expressway Corporation, whose strengths lie in serve reception and defense, struggled to generate momentum aside from Moma, who scored 8 points solo. Their reception efficiency was 33.33%, significantly trailing GS Caltex (55.56%), which led to a decline in attacking efficiency.

The situation did not change much in the second set. After assigning only 35.14% of their attacks to Silva in the first set, GS Caltex increased her share to 46.15% in the second set, and Silva led the offense by scoring 11 points solo. Silva also added blocking and service aces to press Korea Expressway Corporation.

With the team leading 19-13, Yoo Seo-yeon was substituted in for Tanacha. Subsequently, Silva scored 4 points and forced one defensive error from the opponent, securing the second set for GS Caltex.

Korea Expressway Corporation started the third set by substituting outside hitter Kang So-hwi for Park Jeong-a, and their defensive stability improved significantly, launching a counterattack.

However, GS Caltex began to close in as well. In particular, during the longest rally of the day, setter Kim Ji-won finished an attack with a two-step hit, pressuring Korea Expressway Corporation. Following this, Tanacha recorded a diagonal attack and a block, and Silva's high-altitude bombardment tied the set for the first time.

From 21-21, following consecutive errors by the opponent and a service ace from Silva, Kwon Min-ji slammed an open attack to secure a pleasant victory.

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*This content was translated by AI.View Original