Araujo Scores 20 Points as Woori Card Sweeps Kepco for First Win of Season

Professional volleyball team Woori Card has made a strong start to the new season by comfortably defeating KEPCO.

On November 3, Woori Card defeated KEPCO 3-0 (25-19, 25-23, 25-21) in an away match of the men's division for the 2026-2027 HK Mutual Savings & Finance V-League held at Suwon Gymnasium.

Manager Park Chul-woo, who led the team to the postseason as acting manager last season, claimed 3 points in his first regular league match since taking over as the permanent head manager.

On the other hand, KEPCO suffered a defeat in the regular league return match for newly appointed manager Suk Jin-wook.

For Woori Card, foreign player Rafael Araujo (registered as Araujo) scored a match-high 20 points, including 2 service aces and 1 block.

New Asian quarter player Martin Ahmadi (registered as Martin) added 9 points, while Park Jin-woo recorded 7 points, accompanied by 4 blocks.

For KEPCO, Sharone Vernon-Evans (registered as Shaw) scored 13 points and Ousmane Fayad Ali (registered as Ousmane) added 12 points, but they could not prevent the team's defeat.

Woori Card seized the momentum with 3 consecutive points from a 14-14 tie, and then secured the first set with Park Jin-woo's block and Araujo's open attack.

In the second set, tied at 22-22, they created a set point with Martin's quick attack and Araujo's back-row attack.

They then closed out the set at 24-23 with Kim Hyeonggeun's quick open.

In the third set, they jumped out to a 9-2 lead from the early stages by scoring 7 unanswered points, backed by 3 service aces from Kim Hyeonggeun and 2 blocks from Park Jin-woo.

Later, at 24-21, Han Sung-jung secured the victory with a quick open.

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