Patience is Kim’s virtue

Korea superstar Kim Yeon Koung has proven time and again that she can lead a team to victory.

After their 3-1 win against Thailand in the first week of the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League, however, Korea had to go through eight match losses before they claimed their second win in the tournament.

“We were waiting for this victory for a long time, so I’m very happy,” Kim said after scoring 27 points against Serbia.

“We prepared a lot ahead of this game. After the last games, we focused on improving our counter-attack as it was a missing part of our game. We also served aggressively and did a good job in block.”

Kim is undoubtedly a one-of-a-kind player with a solid set of skills, but she is also the team's big sister and a role model who accepts defeat and remains patient.

Even a superstar like her believes that there are still things to improve in her game and the way she leads her team, however.

“I think I have room for improvement especially in communicating with the other players, because only then will we be able to have even better performances.”

Slowly but surely, the team's patience is paying off and giving them a good outlook on their remaining matches.

“We now have a great atmosphere in the team. We will prepare ahead and we hope to earn another victory.”

Korea claimed a second successive victory in Week 4 on Monday when they defeated Canada, also in four sets. Kim scored 23 points but was outscored by her teammate Park Jeongah who claimed 24.