Kim Yeon-Koung
Korea took a narrow, early lead in the opening set thanks to the tournament’s leading scorer, Kim Yeon-Koung and Han Song-Yi. Italy’s key attacking foursome of Antonella Del Core, Lucia Bosetti, Carolina Costagrande and Simona Gioli all grounded spikes as Italy fought back. They contained Kim Yeon-Koung well, and Gioli excelled as they took the set 25-18.
Korea, expertly co-ordinated by captain and setter Kim Sa-Nee opened up a three-point lead at the start of the second set but they were quickly pegged back by the Italians. Scoring was even throughout the set but Korea eventually pulled clear and won the set 25-21 to draw the teams level.
In the third set, point-scoring was again even as you may expect at this stage of the tournament. Korea edged ahead twice before the second technical timeout as Kim Yeon-Koung continued to dominate but Italy stayed close behind. Korea eventually upped their game and took the set 25-20 to lead in the match having been a set down.
Valentina Arrighetti began to contribute to her side’s scoring but Korea were always in command of fourth set. Better communication was evident as the Asian side put together some nice attacks to pull away at 16-11. Frustration was beginning to show on the faces of the Italy side, who are the No.4 ranked side. Korea, ranked No.15, edged towards a famous victory and after some lacklustre Italian defending, took the final set 25-18.
All the results from Olympic matches can be found here:
Volleyball – Men Volleyball – Women
