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)