After defeating Canada in 5 games, the South Korean women's volleyball team, which is hard to find, finally won the first victory in the VNL in 2025

The Korean women's volleyball team defeated Canada to achieve its first victory in the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Nations League (VNL). On the 18th, the South Korean national team, led by head coach Fernando Morales, defeated Canada 3-2 (27-25, 25-18, 15-25, 20-25, 15-13) in the first match of the second week in Istanbul, Turkey.

The main attacker of the South Korean women's volleyball team, Kang Su-hui, is smashing the ball

This was the first victory of the 5th game of this VNL for South Korea, which had dropped to 37th place in the FIVB rankings, over Canada in 9th place, and South Korea, which suffered 4 losses in 4 matches in the first week of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the 5th game.

In the first week, the South Korean women's volleyball team lost 0-3 in matches with Germany, Italy, and the United States, and lost 2-3 in matches with the Czech Republic, accumulating 1 point. In the second week, the team won the first game after 5 rounds of fierce battles, and accumulated 2 more points.

In VNL matches, a 3-0, 3-1 win will earn 3 points in a single game, and a 3-2 win will earn 2 points. If you lose 2-3, you get 1 point.

Lee Sun-woo who is attacking

On the day, South Korea's Kang So-hui (Korea Road Corporation) led the offense with 21 points, while Rok Seo-young (IBK) scored 16 points and Lee Sun-woo (Director Jung) scored 15 points and contributed. Middle blocker Lee Do-hyun (Heungkook Life) also scored 12 points, including two blocks.

South Korean media said after the game that it was a dramatic victory. After the South Korean team scored 25-25 in the first game, they took the lead with Lu Ruiying's continuous attacks. The imposing South Korean team broke out at the same time with the double cannons of Kang Suhui and Lu Ruiying, and also won the second game. The Canadian team had the last laugh in the third and fourth innings with their height, and dragged the victory into the fifth inning. The early part of Game 5 was also in the hands of the Canadian team. South Korea trailed 1-6 at the start of the fifth game. However, with his relentless defense, he launched an attack on the Canadian team, and Lu Ruiying appeared as a finisher, leveling the score at 8-8. subsequently

Canada's Abagail Qassen's offensive error helped South Korea overtake the score, and then extended the score to 10-8 thanks to Lu Seo-young's strong attack. In the final stage of the game, Jiang Suhui played the role of the ace in the team. Kang So-hui turned the tide at 12-11, and at 13-11, libero Han Dahui (Pepper Savings Bank) flew to save the ball, and Kang Suhui took off again to dunk the ball into the opposing camp. At 14-13, it was Jiang Suhui who made the final decision, and her heavy smash killed the suspense of the whole game.

South Korea, who won the thrilling tournament for the first time, will play the second match of Istanbul against Belgium (15th) at 9 p.m. (Beijing time) on the 20th.