Italian coach Stefano Lavarini has infused new life and energy into the South Korean team since his appointment as head coach in 2019.

Lavarini has developed a relatively new squad and turned them into highly competitive Olympic semifinalists, something the volleyball-loving nation has been waiting for since the London 2012 Olympics.

“I joined the team in the summer of 2019, but we could not work in 2020. So I coached for five months and then came back after a year and a half,” Lavarini said.

Doing the math, the 42-year-old coach has been with the team for less than nine months but has accomplished more than what was expected of him.

From a 15th place finish at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, he guided the team to a sixth place at the World Cup the same year. Korea earned their Olympic berth early in 2020.

Fast forward to 2021, even though Lavarini and his team were not able to improve their ranking in the 2021 edition of the VNL, they have now pushed through to the semifinals at Tokyo 2020, playing as many as three five-setters along the way.

Lavarini encourages his players to reach for their dreams on their own terms.

“I think there is a pool of motivation in this tournament. We started with setting our targets and worked on them step by step to reach the quarterfinals. There are girls in the team that have experience and they know how important it is to stay with their feet on the ground, so they act and think accordingly in the most modest way to reach those dreams,” Lavarini said.

“This kind of motivation made the difference. I guess they really wanted to keep enjoying every single day and did not want to put a limit on what they could do. Even though there is a limit because the opponents are becoming stronger in each stage, they do not have that pressure anymore. They are just thinking about volleyball, their motivation and their passion, and they are doing and achieving something great in that sense.”

That was evident in their latest match against Turkey, as they eliminated the European powerhouse in the quarterfinal round. The coach was delighted with the way his players performed.

Among the players that made the difference was captain and superstar Kim Yeon Koung, who scored 28 points, including the last couple of points that sealed their quarterfinal victory. Lavarini pointed out the power that Kim brings to the team.

“We are building something wherein each member of the team is a piece of the puzzle and we put all these pieces together to create a whole image. Under Yeon Koung’s leadership, we are building a team where everybody is an important component of our success as a team.”

Lavarini has succeeded in enhancing the style of the Korean team and they have adapted to taller opponents.

"In Europe, USA and South America, it's very physical volleyball with emphasis on power, height and speed. So we have to create strategies to face the opposition,” he said.

“I think we have helped the team adapt to different international opponents that have varying styles of play. I think my staff and I created a good volleyball culture inside the team and infused it with the Korean tradition. So that mix probably added something more.”

Quick links:
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Volleyball
Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Volleyball - Match schedule
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