Korean Air head coach Tommi Tilikainen resigned himself to a clean sweep after his team was stunned twice by bottom-ranked KB Insurance.
Korean Air fell 1-3 (14-25, 27-29, 25-14, 22-25) to KB Insurance in the fourth round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League Men’s Regular Season at Uijeongbu Indoor Gymnasium in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi-do on Monday.
With the loss, third-ranked Korean Air dropped to 12 wins and 10 losses (38 points), failing to change its goal difference with second-ranked Samsung Fire (14 wins and 7 losses – 38 points). KB Insurance, 현금홀덤사이트 meanwhile, escaped a six-game losing streak to improve to 4-18 (17 points).
Korean Air head coach Tommy Tilikainen’s concerns before the game were exactly right. “Whenever Bjorna plays with us, we play better,” Tilikainen said of KB’s struggles this year. That’s the biggest reason.” Andres Biyena (real name Biyena) exploded for 30 points on a 63.64% attack percentage, making Korean Air the only team to lose two games against KB this season.
After the game, head coach Tilikainen said, “Today (9th), both the defense and offense of the home team played well. In fact, when we play in Uijeongbu, the game seems to start from the second set. We had our chances in the second set, but we didn’t capitalize. I would like to congratulate KB on their victory.”
Strangely enough, there were parts of the game that didn’t go their way. In the first set, we had a huge lead in reception efficiency (55% to 10%), but we lost a big point. There were also some rare positional errors. The second set was a back-and-forth affair, with deuce after deuce, but they couldn’t stop Bjerna.
Coach Tilikainen said: “There’s nothing to say about the first set position fault. “If we knew why it didn’t work out in Uijeongbu, we would have changed that,” said Tilkainen. “They played well, and there were elements that brought down our mood, but I think (the way to overcome this situation) is to just play good volleyball.
Despite the loss, Lim Dong-hyuk and Kim Min-jae performed well. Lim scored a team-high 29 points on a 60.47% attack percentage and helped the team win the only set of the match with three consecutive service aces. Middle blocker Kim Min-jae also did well in the fast lane, including two blocks.
“Against KB Insurance, we needed both height and offense, and Kim did his job well,” said Tilikainen. “As an outside hitter, you have to be able to hold your own in a match. In that position, Lim Dong-hyuk is doing as much as he can. I can feel him growing and getting stronger as the year goes on.”