'The Wonder Coach' For Kim Yeon-koung, defeat was a springboard for what came next. After the loss in the Korea-Japan match, Kim Yeon-koung burned with even more fighting spirit.
On the MBC Sunday entertainment show The Wonder Coach that aired on the 26th, the third set against Japan's Shujitsu High School continued from last week. The Wonder Dox, who had taken the first and second sets. But as the third set began, the atmosphere started to change strangely. Pyo Seung-ju shouted, "Hold on! Hold on! You only need one!", but with a service error Shujitsu reached 24 points and then scored one more point to take the third set. It was a failed substitution by Kim Yeon-koung.
Pyo Seung-ju encouraged the players, saying, "You have to press. Are we going to do it like this? I know we want to give the attackers points, but you have to hit hard." Kim Yeon-koung explained the strategy: "Earlier, Young-in also—where did the block hit? It was the side, so why didn't you go there? You should have gone straight then."
Entering the fourth set, the once-momentum Wonder Dox kept giving points to Uchida, Shujitsu's service ace. Leading 8-2, Wonder Dox were dismayed when Uchida's serves from Shujitsu cut the lead to four. Pyo Seung-ju expressed frustration, saying, "I think it started from then. We kept failing receives one after another and couldn't recover from then on." Kim Yeon-koung emphasized blocking, saying, "Don't count the serves, don't count! It's because there are too many movements," and, "Was the serve strong? It wasn't strong. We failed the receive. The blocking position is where the ball is. Where were our positions? How are the hand positions? Let's get our positions right."
Kim Yeon-koung's tactics worked at times, but the problem was also Wonder Dox's stamina. Coach Nasihita laughed, saying, "Those players have no stamina. They're all exhausted." Baek Chae-rim showed a very tired expression, saying, "We were physically exhausted, and we kept getting more tired." The announcer lamented, "Wonder Dox overall look tired. It was a concern when playing against high school players."
Ultimately the match dragged on to a fifth set for Wonder Dox. Having lost by four points at the end, they lay listlessly on the court. Kim Yeon-koung showed a hollow emotion, saying, "Oh my leg. It's no good." She spoke with a coach as if in despair: "What do we do first? If we lose two more times we'll disband; I wonder if they're going to disband these guys."
Seeing the players gathered in the locker room, Kim Yeon-koung said firmly and quietly, "Players who played today, tell all your impressions. Each of you should hold onto your regrets and do better," but her inner thoughts were, "Should I say they should be ashamed? That situation. Being up 2-0 against high school students and then suffering a 3-2 come-from-behind loss was both embarrassing and shameful. As a coach."
The next opponent was Gwangju Women's University, the champion of Korea's university league. The team, led by coach Choi Seung-woo, was led by a young coach born in 1992. He expressed confidence in Wonder Dox, saying, "The players' average age is 20.2. We train an average of eight hours a day. We train until 10 p.m."
Kim Yeon-koung pinpointed the cause of the Korea-Japan match loss as a "low attack success rate." With high expectations for Inokushi, Kim Yeon-koung told Inokushi, "Don't compromise. Don't make excuses. Provide solutions. Think this way and it would have turned out this way, change your mindset. Are you going to stay here? You have to go to bigger places. You need to think bigger," and, "No one gets it easy. No one gets it easy. It's hard for you, but many have gone through even harder times."
After asking the players about error factors, when they gave the simple answer "I think I put it short," she reacted strongly, saying, "Does that make sense? You have to understand this and play volleyball. You have to play thinking about these things," then added, "I have a goal for this match against Gwangju Women's University. I will win by a 3-0 shutout no matter what," and, "Prepare for the match with that mindset," showing instead a burning fighting spirit.
[Photo] MBC Sunday entertainment The Wonder Coach
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