The women’s volleyball Pepper Savings Bank remains at the bottom of the list in its third year. The foreign player system has been changed as it may adversely affect the success of the league.
Pepper Savings Bank is the lowest ranking bank with two wins and 19 losses (seven points) as of Tuesday. Compared with the 2021-22 season (3 wins and 28 losses) and the previous season (5 wins and 31 losses), which is the first year since its foundation, nothing has improved. It brought in free agents Park Jung-ah and Chae Sun-ah, but their win rate decreased compared to last season. It seems that it will be difficult to catch up with Korea Expressway Corporation (6 wins and 15 losses and 19 points).
The game itself is disappointing, too. Pepper Savings Bank won the first set at a home game against Heungkuk Life Insurance in Gwangju on July 7. It also led the game 22-14 in the second set. However, it came from behind in the second set after a close deuce battle, and lost the third and fourth sets afterward. It received support from home fans at home, but lost 14 straight games. It is also close to 17 consecutive games, the most by a team. Foreign player Yasmin Vedart struggled to encourage players to do well, but it was not enough.
Pepper Savings Bank’s parent company’s support is not bad. The owner of the bank, Jang Matthew, visits the stadium whenever he has time. There is no dedicated gym, but he freely uses the facilities of Pepper Stadium. The team that moved to his hometown of Gwangju is also excellent. He invested heavily in the formation of his team. Off-season free agents Park Jung-ah and Chae Sun-ah were recruited.
The volleyball community points out a lack of preparation. IBK Industrial Bank, which joined the “sixth team” in 2010, formed a team just in time for promising players including Kim Hee-jin and Park Jung-ah to graduate from high school. After organizing its squad without rushing to join the league, the bank was founded in 2011 and participated in the league from the 11th to 12th seasons. Thanks to this, the bank was able to rise to the top in two years. Pepper Savings Bank, on the other hand, did not have time to make a proper team as it was immediately busy joining the league.
The management of the team was not smooth. Kim Hyung-sil, the founding coach of the team, stepped down for less than half of the 2022-23 season, which was his second year. He signed a contract with Ahen Kim, but set up the team as an agency rather than directing the remaining games. He then left the team in June, when he was in the midst of preparations for the upcoming season. Lee Go-eun also had many ups and downs during the process of re-entry to the team, including giving up the top nomination right. Coach Joe Trinzie also urgently needed time to take charge of the team and train it as he wanted. Players also failed to adapt to Trinzie’s style.
Having the lowest rank teams overwhelmingly is not good for the overall success of the league. Consequently, the team decided to change the way the women’s Asian quarter is selected through a general managerial meeting held on Tuesday. The team changed the order from the same probability draw as the existing seven teams (male team will retain) to differential probability draw. The bottom three teams (30 teams with the number of beads, 25 teams with the number of 6 teams, and 20 teams with the number of 5 teams) will be drawn in the first round, and the top four teams will be drawn later. Pepper Savings Bank, which selected MJ Phillips as the fifth pick in the last draft, will be able to secure at least the top three picks next season.
BY: 사설토토