After taking a week to rest, South Korea’s best player Kim Yeon-Kyung will return to her team for week 4 of the 2018 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League. She joined her team for a press conference on Monday in Nakhon Ratchasima, Thailand, where they’re preparing to play in a set of crucial Asian Games preview matches against Thailand and Japan, and finishing the weekend with Turkey.
Last week, playing without their outside hitter and leading scorer, South Korea lost all 3 of their matches to Brazil, Netherlands, and Poland. That dropped them from a 4-2 record and in the top 6 after 2 weeks to a 4-5 record and in 9th place after week 3.
A win over Turkey (6-3, 19 points, 5th place) keeps them in contention for a place in the Final 6.
Even without playing in the last 3 matches, Kim’s 130 points still leaves her ranked 7th among all players in the tournament so far.
“It will be a tough week for us,” Kim said in the press conference. “We will do our best and enjoy the game.”
“All matches will be difficult,” her coach Cha Hae Won said. “We will be well prepared mentally and physically so we will show our best team performance.
Kim, who stands 6’4” tall and is 30-years old, signed in May to play with Eczacibasi in Turkey for the 2018-2019 season. She’s been on the South Korean National Team since 2005, when she was just 17 years old, and in the process has won Asian Games gold in 2014 and Asian Championship silver in 2015. She’s been named the best Outside Hitter of the 2014, 2015 and 2017 Asian Volleyball Championships.
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