South Korea's women's national team recorded their first victory in this year's edition of theVolleyball Nations League (VNL), after defeating the team ofCanada, led byformer Bulgaria coach Giovanni Guidetti, with a score of 3:2 (27:25, 25:18, 15:25, 20:25, 15:13) in a Group 4 match played in Istanbul, Turkey.

Solid play and a contested battle

The Koreans started strong, winning the first two sets, but allowed the battling Canadians to equalize before prevailing in the tie-break with 15:13.

Kang Sowhi played a key role in the success, becoming the top scorer in the match with 21 points (including 2 aces and 2 blocks), whileYuk Seoyoung added another 16 points for the Korean squad.

From the Canadian side,Abigail undergoing stood out with 17 points, andAnna Smrek contributed 16 points, including 1 ace and a total of 4 blocks.

Statistics and Standings

• Attacks:Korea - 59 | Canada - 56

• Blocks:Korea - 8 | Canada - 13

• Aces:Korea - 4 | Canada - 6

• Opponent errors:Even - 31 each

• Total points:Korea - 102 | Canada - 106

Despite better statistical indicators in blocking and serving, Canada failed to achieve victory, which adds additional pressure on the team led byGiovanni Guidetti, who took over the team with hopes for a stronger performance in the League.

VNL Standings after the match

• Republic of Korea: 17th place with 3 points (1 win, 4 losses)

• Canada: 10th place with 9 points (2 wins, 3 losses)
  
  photo:volleyballworld.com