An unknown volleyball player who played on the business stage until just two years ago, has leaped to become the main setter of the V-League winning team through the ‘late rookie king’. The protagonist of the unexpected success story is Lee Yoon-jung (26, Korea Expressway Corporation).
The 2022-23 season V-League Women’s Championship is considered a ‘great match’. This is because the same thing happened as in a drama in which the road construction company, which was the’underdog’, lost the first and second games against Heungkuk Life Insurance led by Kim Yeon-kyung, the’Volleyball Empress’, and then succeeded in winning the reverse with 3 consecutive wins.
There are many ‘leading players’ who have led the potential of Korea Expressway Corporation, including main players Park Jeong-ah and Catherine Bell, middle blocker Jeong Dae-young and libero Lim Ok-ok, and captain Bae You-na. However, Lee Yoon-jung, who coordinated the team’s attack as a ‘field commander’ on the court, cannot be left out. It debuted in the 2021-22 season and this was only the second season, but Lee Yun-jung played a big game well without wavering.
Lee Yoon-jung laughed, saying, “I didn’t really feel that he had won because he was playing the game without hesitation, but I felt the joy of winning the championship while receiving congratulations from many people.”
Lee Yoon-jung, who graduated from Suwon Jeonsan Girls’ High School, should have participated in the 2015 rookie draft. However, he did not participate in the rookie draft and chose Suwon City Hall in the unemployment league.
Lee Yoon-jung said, “There are already so many good setters in the pro, so I thought he wouldn’t be able to play a lot.”
Lee Yoon-jung, who honed her skills while playing for six years at Suwon City Hall, participated in the 2021 rookie draft and was selected by the Korea Expressway Corporation in the second place in the second round. Although he was a ‘rookie setter’, he already had a lot of experience, so he acted with ‘immediate sense of power’ and he was awarded the ‘Rookie of the Year’ at the age of 25.
And in the second year, as Lee Go-eun, who had split the playing time, left, Lee Yoon-jung became a solid starter. He played a lot in the professional stage, but there was a clear difference from that in the professional stage.
He confessed, “It was burdensome to do it in front of a large crowd, as well as the performance,” and “It was not easy to fix my mentality because there were many criticisms, criticisms, and bad comments that I did not experience when I was unemployed.”
Each time it happened, I gritted it and endured it. Lee Yoon-jung smiled, saying, “The only way was to not think of the bad things as much as possible.”
Could it be because he played almost full-time and endured the regular season? On the contrary, in the postseason, there was less pressure and tension than in the regular season.
Lee Yoon-jung said, “Many people were worried, but I felt more comfortable in the postseason.”
In fact, the only goal Lee Yoon-jung set when she entered the professional league two years ago was to win. After 2 years, he achieved his goal with a splendid ‘reverse sweep’ from the position of ‘main player’. ㅋㅋㅋ벳
Lee Yoon-jung said, “I wanted to help the team win rather than individual awards, but I did it faster than I thought.”
However, it is difficult to achieve success only with ‘luck’ without skill and effort. Lee Yoon-jung was also able to enjoy her present joy thanks to her long wait in the unemployment stage, her efforts in the professional stage, and proper ‘luck’.
Lee Yun-jeong, who quickly achieved a goal, set another goal. This time it is a combined victory.
He said, “I hear that the road construction has weakened as Park Jung-ah and Jeong Dae-yeong were left out in the offseason,” he said. “He made up his mind.
If there is an individual goal, not a team one, it is to maintain performance without ups and downs.
He said, “I want to set goals such as the Best 7 Setter Award or the national team, but in the end, in order to achieve those things, I have to become a consistently good player.” And I want to make a sense of security my own,” he emphasized.