Moon Ji-yoon Scores 11 Points as Heungkuk Life Suffers Defeat to Osaka in Women's Volleyball Super Match

Heungkuk Life Insurance, competing as the South Korean women's professional volleyball representative, has fallen to Japan's SV.League representative, Osaka Marvelous.

In the opening match of the 2026 Jeju Korea-China-Japan Women's Volleyball Top Club Super Match held today at the Jeju Halla Gymnasium, Heungkuk Life lost to Osaka with a set score of 0-3 (17-25, 18-25, 15-25).

With key players called up to the national team for the East Asian Championship, Heungkuk Life fielded a starting lineup featuring Pyo Seung-ju, Choi Eun-ji, and Byun Ji-su.

Moon Ji-yoon, who entered as a substitute in the first and second sets before starting in the third, led the team with 11 points, while Pyo Seung-ju—who returned to the V-League after signing with Heungkuk Life ahead of this season—scored 4 points.

Heungkuk Life engaged in a tight battle early in the first set, driven by the attacks of Pyo Seung-ju and Choi Eun-ji, but their reception began to waver past the middle of the set.

Trailing 11-13, they failed to block the opponent's flank attacks and conceded six consecutive points, letting the momentum slip away.

Moon Ji-yoon, brought in as a substitute, fought hard by scoring through blocking and open attacks, but the team failed to close the gap and dropped the set 17-25.

Early in the second set, Heungkuk Life fell behind 0-6 amid a combination of unstable receptions and defensive errors.

Byun Ji-su secured consecutive blocks, and Im Hye-rim and Moon Ji-yoon contributed points from the front and back rows to mount a chase, but it was not enough to overcome the early deficit.

Struggling against the opponent's fast-paced attacks late into the set, Heungkuk Life surrendered the second set as well, 18-25.

Early in the final third set, Heungkuk Life tied the game 4-4 with a blocking point by Choi Eun-ji and maintained balance until 6-6.

However, they were soon blocked by the opponent's high-reaching defensive wall and committed consecutive errors, falling behind 8-12.

Unable to find an offensive breakthrough, the deficit widened to 9-16, and their focus slipped toward the end of the set, leading to a 0-3 shutout defeat with a score of 15-25.

Meanwhile, both Osaka, representing Japan in this tournament, and Shanghai Bright Ubest, representing China, are teams for which "Volleyball Queen" Kim Yeon-koung previously played.

Kim Yeon-koung participated as the ceremonial first server for the opening match.

(Photo courtesy of KBSN, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.