Two V-League matches that point in opposite directions. In the men's game, Samsung and Kepco meet with no block wall on either side, and both rely on foreign finishers to side out, which is how close sets get made. In the women's game the opposite is true: IBK's serve and middle block line up against SOOP's two weakest units, and SOOP's attack has narrowed to one player.
Samsung vs Kepco. Samsung's attack runs through Hoki, the tall left-handed opposite, and Wang Bin, the Asia-quota outside hitter. Wang Bin had 35 in the win at KB and Hoki had 30 in the home loss to Hyundai. Kepco win on serve pressure and on Shaw, who gets lower, faster sets under returning coach Seok Jin-wook, with Yoon Ha-jun's three aces at KAL as the other weapon. What matters is what neither side has: both lost their latest block counts heavily (Kepco 4 to 14 at KAL, Samsung 5 to 11 against Hyundai), so this should be a side-out exchange rather than one wall smothering the other.
Both teams have also handed away late sets this season. Samsung let set one against Hyundai slip from 20-18 on a service error and a net touch, and lost a 36-38 marathon at KB. All three of the sets Kepco won at KAL were decided by two points, and they still dropped one set clearly. Each side's sweeps came in a different setting: Kepco were swept at home by a Woori side that served six aces and blocked ten times, and Samsung were swept in the cup without Wang Bin. With Wang Bin available, Samsung have taken at least one set in every league match.
Kim Woo-jin's doubt from his last match is the lineup point to watch on Samsung's reception side, but it does not touch the two main finishers. I expect tight opening sets that turn on whoever gets a serve run first, with Kepco's in-match switches at setter and on the third attacker as the late turning points. That's why I'm siding with this one going long, with both teams taking sets.
SOOP vs IBK. SOOP, the new club still looking for its first win, score almost only through their import opposite Audriana, who carried more than half the attack against Expressway at a modest hit rate. Their domestic outside hitter Park Eun-seo, who also passes, is out for the first round according to the coach, and their own local preview says the reception has been shaken by strong serving since the opener. Without a clean pass, middle Iz Xue's quick attack disappears and Audriana ends up swinging into a set block.
That is exactly where IBK are strongest. Their middles, Choi Jeong-min and Lee Ju-a, helped make 15 blocks against GS and held GS's main hitter to a very low efficiency, while their attack is spread across four hitters, so SOOP's block has nothing to read. SOOP have lost eight of nine recent sets by three points or more. Their one set came from an Audriana serve run in the middle of a set, and they would need that plus an IBK error spell again.
I expect IBK to serve SOOP out of system from the start, block the one predictable hitter, and close each set by a few points. That's why I'm backing IBK to win this one in straight sets.
