▲ Players of the U-17 women's national volleyball team celebrate after scoring a point against Taiwan in their second Group D match of the FIVB U-17 Girls' U-17 World Championship.
South Korea's young women's volleyball prospects, who conquered Asia last year, are continuing their strong run on the global stage.
Composed of middle and high school players, the under-17 (U-17) women's national volleyball team defeated Taiwan 3-1 in set scores during their second Group D match of the 2026 International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) U-17 Girls' World Championship held in Los Andes, Chile, on August 8 (KST).
Having decorated their World Championship debut with a 3-1 victory over Puerto Rico the previous day, South Korea claimed its second consecutive win to top the group, signaling a bright green light for advancing to the round of 16.
The tournament features 24 teams divided into four groups of six, with the top four teams from each group advancing to the round of 16.
South Korea is competing alongside Puerto Rico, Taiwan, Italy, the Dominican Republic, and Algeria.
South Korea secured its ticket to the U-17 World Championship—awarded to the top four semifinalists—by winning the 2025 Asian U-16 Women's Volleyball Championship held last year.
Having claimed the title in a full-set thriller against Taiwan in the final back then, South Korea once again demonstrated its prowess as the Asian champion by winning the rematch against Taiwan at the World Championship.
Son Seo-yeon of Sunmyung Girls' High School, dubbed "Little Kim Yeon-koung," who led the victory by scoring 28 points against Puerto Rico, put on another stellar performance.
She led South Korea's offense by scoring a match-high 17 points.
Eom Min-seo of Hanbom High School contributed 10 points, while middle blockers Choi Min-ju of Gyeonghae Girls' Middle School and Lee Da-yeon of Choongang Girls' High School added 8 points each.
In the crucial third set with South Korea leading 8-5, Choi Min-ju widened the gap by blocking the opponent's attack.
The national team then pressured Taiwan with strong serves.
At 15-7, Eom Min-seo recorded a service ace, and at 19-8, Son Seo-yeon calmly capitalized on an attack opportunity created by Taiwan's reception error.
The national team completed the victory by exploiting Taiwan's shaky defense in the fourth set as well.
At 13-9, Eom Min-seo successfully executed a tool-out attack to widen the lead, and toward the end of the set, a flurry of errors from Taiwan allowed South Korea to comfortably wrap up the match.
South Korea will play its third group match against second-place Italy at 9:00 AM on August 9.
(Photo: Captured from FIVB website, Yonhap News)
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