The Incheon Korean Air Jumbos prevailed over the Uijeongbu KB Insurance Stars in, by many parameters, the historical 3rd match of the 2021/22 South Korean Men’s Volleyball Championship playoff finals to defend the title.
Beating No.2 KB Stars (first-ever final in the club history) with a score of 3-2 (25-22, 22-25, 24-26, 25-19, 23-21) in Game 3, No.1 Jumbos prevailed in the playoff final series of the 2021/22 Men’s Dodram V-League (도드람 V리그 남자) by a 2-1 to become the back-to-back champions of Korea. Thus, the Incheon side upgraded their regular-season result thanks to which it went straight to the finals.
Game 3, which culminated with an intense tie-break, was a memorable match in Korean volleyball history. The two teams vied in the longest-ever V-League match: 177 minutes (2 hours 57 minutes). The previous record (KEPCO vs Jumbos on November 2, 2017) lasted 19 minutes less. Australian Lincoln Williams, the author of 34 points in today’s game on the winning side, won the Most Valuable Player award in the finals. In the 3rd game, KB Stars’ Noumory Keita set a new single-match V-League scoring record in playoff finals. The Malian international put down 57 points (the 3rd-best male single-match scorer of all time in the world), breaking Gavin Schmitt’s display in Game 4 of the series of the 2010/11 finals – the Canadian scored 53 points for the Bluefangs. A 35-year-old Finnish expert Tommi Tiilikainen, who commands the Jumbos, became the youngest head coach to win the title in the history of the V-League.
2021/22 Men’s Dodram V-League – playoff finals:
