Korean Air to Face Woori Card, Hyundai Capital to Play KEPCO in KOVO Cup Semifinals

Korean Air will face Woori Card, and Hyundai Capital will square off against KEPCO in the semifinals of the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) Cup.

Korean Air defeated Hyundai Capital 3-0 in sets in their final Men's Group A match of the 2026 Yeosu-NH Nonghyup Cup Pro Volleyball Tournament held at Jinam Gymnasium in Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, on October 22.

Finishing the group stage with three consecutive wins, Korean Air topped Group A and will meet Group B runner-up Woori Card in the semifinals.

The semifinal match between the two teams will take place at 1:30 p.m. on October 24 at the same venue.

Hyundai Capital, which finished second in Group A with a 2-1 record following its loss to Korean Air, will face Group B leader KEPCO at 4:30 p.m. on the same day.

The tournament final will be held at 1:30 p.m. on October 25.

For Korean Air, new wing spiker Zayder Keturakis (registered name Keturakis) led both teams with 19 points, while Im Dong-hyuk contributed 12 points with an attack success rate of 73.33%.

In addition, Jung Ji-suk added 11 points, raising expectations for Korean Air's "triangular offense" this season.

Hyundai Capital struggled to find an offensive rhythm as its main weapon, Leonardo Leyva Martinez (registered name Leo), had a quiet performance with just 9 points.

In the earlier Group B final match, KEPCO showed great resilience by coming from behind after losing the first two sets to defeat Woori Card 3-2, advancing to the semifinals as the group leader.

KEPCO saw balanced scoring from Asian quota player Osman Fayad Ali (registered name Osman) with 16 points, Lee Tae-ho with 15 points, Yoon Ha-jun with 12 points, and Sherone Vernon-Evans (registered name Shaw) with 11 points.

Woori Card was led by the notable performances of Kim Dong-young (18 points) and Kim Dong-min (14 points).

Newly appointed KEPCO head coach Suk Jin-wook showed impressive form during the group stage, raising anticipation for the upcoming regular season.

OK Savings Bank finished the tournament with a 1-2 record in Group A after defeating Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.

In the day's opening Group A match, OK Savings Bank staged a comeback victory against Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, winning 3 sets to 2.

Their concentration stood out as they claimed three straight sets after dropping the first two.

Having already missed out on a semifinal berth with two losses in the group stage, OK Savings Bank wrapped up their tournament on a high note by beating Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance.

Kyle Russell (registered name Russell), who struggled early in the match, led the comeback by utilizing his powerful serves from the middle of the game onward, scoring 14 points including 4 service aces.

He was supported by Kim Jung-ho (13 points), Cha Ji-hwan, and Mehran Feyzeimahdoust (registered name Feyzeh, both with 10 points).

OK Savings Bank also dominated their opponents 11-4 in team blocking.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, entering this season under head coach Tommi Tiilikainen, finished the tournament with three losses.

Song Myung-geun scored a match-high 19 points, but could not prevent the team's comeback defeat.

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