As expected, there were no upsets. Italy (No. 5) proved to be too much for Korea (No. 36).
The South Korean women’s volleyball team, led by head coach Cesar Hernández González, fell to Italy 0-3 (11-25 20-25 17-25) in the first match of Group C of the 바카라사이트 Paris 2024 Olympic Qualification Tournament in Łódź, Poland, on Sunday (July 17).
South Korea will compete in Group C alongside Italy, Poland, Germany, the United States, Colombia, Thailand, and Slovenia. They need to finish in the top two out of eight teams to qualify for the main draw in Paris.
After facing tough opponents from the first game, South Korea is in a tough spot, needing to win all of their remaining games to have any hope of qualifying.
However, if you look at their objective stats, they’re in a position where they should be worried about getting knocked out, not advancing.
Even against Italy, South Korea was outplayed in most offensive metrics, including 3-10 in blocking and 0-2 in serving.
Kang So-hwi (GS Caltex) was the only player with double-digit digs (10). Captain Park Jung-ah (Pepper Savings Bank) had six points.
After dropping the first set by a large margin, Korea started the second set with a 3-0 run, led by Kwon Min-ji GS Caltex and Lee Ju-ah Heungkuk Life.
Despite Italy’s rally, Korea lost the lead at 9-8 after a series of serve and receive errors. The Koreans fought back to reach the 20-point mark, but were unable to turn the tide.
Korea also dropped the third set by a large margin.
South Korea will play Poland (7th) in the second round of the group stage on Aug. 18.