Korean Air head coach Tommi Tilikainen earned “victory” honors in the first foreign head coach matchup in the men’s regular season of the Korean Professional Volleyball V League.

Korean Air defeated OK Financial Group in straight sets 3-0 (25-20 26-24 25-15) in the men’s home match of the Pro Volleyball Dodram 2023-2024 V League at Gyeyang Gymnasium in Incheon on Sunday.

OK Financial Group is coached by Ogino Massage.

Tilikainen and Ogino first met in the Group A qualifiers of the Gumi Professional Volleyball Cup in August, where Tilikainen’s Korean Air won in straight sets, 3-2.

It was Tilikainen’s Korean Air who won the first meeting in the regular season.

Korean Air, which is looking to win the overall title (regular season title and championship) for the fourth consecutive season, finished the first round with 13 points (4-2) and third place with three straight wins. First-round winners Samsung Fire and Woori Card have 14 points, one more than Korean Air.

OK Financial Group (10-4-2), which was in third place before the game, failed to add any points and dropped to fourth.

OK Financial Group played a safe volleyball with fewer errors.

Korean Air, on the other hand, played a relatively bold game, as their main outside hitter Jeong Ji-seok was unable to play due to injury and their foreign attacker Lincoln Williams was not fully fit and played only a short time.

When OK Financial Group made a ‘safe serve’, Korean Air harassed OK Financial Group with steady reception followed by fast attacks.

In addition, middle blocker Kim Gyu-min-in recorded six blocking points to keep OK Financial Group out of the way.

At 4-3 in the first set, Korean Air scored on a quick opener from young wing attacker Lee Jun, then deflected an attack from opposite Leonardo Leyva Martinez (registered name Leo) and followed it up with a kill from Jung Jung-yong.

At 6-4, Lim Dong-hyuk’s back-attack came through, and in the ensuing rally, setter Han made a bold open attack to extend the lead to 8-4.

Korean Air then secured the first set with a good mix of quick attacks from Cho Jae-young and wing attacks from Lee Jun.

In the second set, which was a deuce battle, Korean Air took a step forward with a 25-24 victory on a fastball by Cho Jae-young.

Korean Air secured the second set when OK Financial Group’s Shin Seong-jin’s follow-through attack went off the line untouched by the blocker.

Midway through the third set, Korean Air solidified the victory.

At 14-12, Jeong Jeong-yong made a successful follow-up attack. He then blocked a quick opener from Shin Shin-jin.

At 16-12, Korean Air closed out the match in three sets with a strong serve.

On the day, Korean Air outscored OK Financial Group 13-1 in blocking and 4-2 in service aces.

Korean Air had four players in double figures, including young wing attackers Lim Dong-hyuk (18 points), Jeong Jung-yong (15 points) and Lee Jun (12 points) and middle blocker Cho Jae-young (14 points). 먹튀검증