“We need to find a way to play consistently.”
Heungkuk Life head coach Marcello Abondanza was not smiling in victory. Heungkuk Life won their first-round match against IBK IBK Business Bank in the 2023-2024 Dodram V League Women’s Division by a three-set score of 26-24, 15-25, 25-19, 28-26 on Thursday at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon.
With the victory, Heungkuk Life improved to 5-1 after the opening day and remained in first place with 15 points. In second place is GS Caltex with 11 points. Heungkuk Life won all five of its matches to close out the first round, with the exception of a close full-set loss to Jeonggwanjang on Oct. 26, which it lost 3-2.
Despite the win, it wasn’t a perfect performance. There were too many errors. Heungkuk Life had 32 unforced errors by the fourth set. With Kim Yeon-kyung off her usual form, she made too many errors and allowed IBK to catch up.
Coach Abondanza also called for the players to focus several times during the match. Despite the close win, Abondanza’s post-match face showed concern. 보스토토 도메인
“It’s weird,” Abondanza said, “we played very well in the last game, but I don’t think we were consistent today. We need to find a way to be consistent,” he said.
“I think it’s a matter of concentration from moment to moment. Sometimes I get too relaxed, and my concentration seems to go up and down when things don’t go according to plan.”
“In the last match, we had 10 errors in the third set, but today we had over 30 in the fourth set. There may be some technical things, but basically, we are not catching well,” he said, emphasizing the need for improvement.
Nevertheless, Heungkuk Life finished the first round with a 5-1 record. They lead the standings with 15 points. Coach Abondanza renewed his determination, saying, “We will build a team that can consistently maintain our best performance until we reach the playoffs.”