KAL against OK is a meeting of a deep, experienced core and a strong-serving side that has just lost its veteran setter. KAL win long rallies at the net and in tight set endings, while OK win their sets early, on serve runs that break a reception. Both sides played a long match a day earlier, so uneven sets and a match that stretches out are very possible. The key question is whether KAL's reception, which needed fixing in their opener, holds up under OK's serve.
KAL beat Samsung in four sets with a 13-8 edge in blocks and 28 points from new foreign player Ketrzynski. But the weak spot showed. Lim Dong-hyuk hit only around 13 percent, and coach Henan had to bring in Jeong Han-yong to steady the reception and move Ketrzynski to opposite. Even after that fix, Samsung took a set and pushed another to 28-26.
OK lost a five-setter to Hyundai, but look at how they won their two sets: 25-17 and 25-16, both built on serve runs. Russell's serving alone took the second set from 7-2 to 18-7. Their whole attack played and produced: Russell 25, Jeon Gwang-in 18, Kim Jung-ho 13, new middle Peyze 11. OK's sets slip away late, from level positions after 20 points, but their wins don't depend on close endings.
The lineup change everyone talks about is at setter. Lee Min-gyu has left for KEPCO, and young Kim Dae-hwan made his first official start. He still used the quicks with Peyze and Park Chang-seong, and that keeps a block honest so it can't just sit on Russell. Every other part of the OK attack is intact.
I expect a set-by-set match with swings. KAL should take the tight sets on their block and experience. OK should take sets where Russell and the servers get a run going against a reception that was already patched once. With both teams tired, a fifth set is very much in play.
That's why I'm siding with Busan OK to stay close: they need two sets, and their serve has already shown it can win sets outright against this kind of reception.
