On V-League opening night, both games come down to which setter-hitter link is settled and which is still being built. In the women's game, IBK bring a unit that played the whole cup together under Manabe, while Hyundai have rebuilt almost their entire attacking chain. In the men's game, Woori kept their setter and opposite together, and Kepco are working in a new setter with their star scorer. Rest is even in both matchups, so the late sets should go to whichever link is already in sync.
IBK win by pressuring with the serve, which is why Manabe picked Park Eun-seo to set, and by feeding Victoria, who scored 38 against JKJ, with Miwa and Choi Jung-min as the other options. Hyundai have lost Yang Hyo-jin to retirement, brought in Bae Yoo-na in the middle, and added Jordan Wilson and Mega on the wings. In the cup, the timing from Kim Da-in to the wings was off and Jordan's reception was shaky. They won none of their six sets and blew leads of 11-7 and 16-12.
The central matchup is IBK's serve against Jordan's reception. When that breaks, Hyundai's sets turn into high balls that Bae Yoo-na's middle can't rescue. Against the same opponent, Expressway, Hyundai scored 51 points in three sets to IBK's 59. Hyundai's head-to-head edge was built with Yang and against IBK's old coach. I'm with IBK to take this in four or fewer.
In Suwon, Kepco have a new coach, a new setter in Lee Min-gyu and a new outside hitter in Usman. They still win through Sho, last season's top scorer, but Sho had little time to build timing with his new setter because of national-team duty. Woori re-signed both Han Tae-jun and Araujo and kept Martin's quick attack as a second outlet.
Sho's serve against Woori's domestic outside hitters is Kepco's best route. Libero Kim Young-jun carries a lot of Woori's reception, though, and Araujo gives them points in the long sets. Even with Araujo and both starting outside hitters rested, Woori took the first two sets off Kepco in the cup. This looks like a match of close sets. That's why I'm backing Woori to take at least two of them.
