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Hyundai Engineering & Construction, ranking first in the regular league, and Heungkuk Life Insurance, ranking second, will begin their best-of-five series for the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League championship.

The first round match will take place at Suwon Gymnasium on Thursday. Hyundai Engineering & Construction, the No. 1 player in the regular league, will play the first two games at home. After that, the third and fourth rounds will continue at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon, and if the result is not decided, the final fifth round will take place again at Suwon.

Looking back on the regular season, it was Heungkuk Life Insurance's pace in the beginning. While Hyundai E&C took the lead with five wins and one loss from the first round, it started the season with three wins, three losses and fourth place.

Since then, Hyundai Engineering & Construction has risen to second place in the second round as a leading opponent, and in the third round, it has recaptured the first place and seized the league lead.

At the end of the fourth round, Hyundai Engineering & Construction seemed to be entering a stable zone by widening the point gap to eight points, but the fierce lead fight erupted as Heungkuk Life Insurance pulled out a replacement card for foreign players at the start of the fifth round and launched a fierce chase.

In the final sixth round, the first place was finally determined by one point. Hyundai Engineering & Construction won the top title with 26 wins, 10 losses, and 80 points. Heungkuk Life Insurance won two more games with 28 wins, 8 losses, and 79 points, but it was regrettable to manage the points.

In this season's showdown between Hyundai E&C and Heungkuk Life had four wins and two losses, with Heungkuk Life leading the pack 10-8. What's noticeable is that Heungkuk Life won 3-0 in both the fifth and sixth rounds held on Feb. 12 and March 12.

The biggest point is whether today's game will be an extension of this or a new phase.

For now, Hyundai E&C smiled wearing a regular league No. 1 T-shirt after the 3-1 victory over Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank on the 16th, the final game of the season.

They were able to have a whopping 11 days to prepare. After taking a half-day break from work for two days, Hyundai E&C calmly prepared for the championship game afterwards.

Yang Hyo-jin, who had difficulty even lifting his head due to neck disc symptoms, has recovered a lot. Though not 100 percent, Yang is participating in training normally. He also has much better pace than at the end of the season. He is full of confidence.

Moma also took enough rest and recharged her stamina to exert her energizer temperament.

Attention is on Wipawi's pain. Still, the shoulder pain remains minor. Still, unlike in the previous six rounds, participation in the attack is taking place. I'm looking forward to how he will play today because he has such a strong will.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction's strength was its skeleton leading to setter Kim Da-in and Libero Kim Yeon-kyeon. The two players had a hard time at the end of the season, but now they are recharged. Another checkpoint is whether they can still continue their dominance in the opponent's match.

Hyundai Engineering & Construction is also a key player today, Jung Ji-yoon and Lee Da-hyun. The team will be revived only when their performance is noticeable. Attention is also focusing on whether the two players, whose clubs are attached to non-trade players, will be able to show their true value through this series.

Against this backdrop, Heungkuk Life Insurance entered the postseason after its last regular league game against GS Caltex on Saturday. It met with Jeong Kwan-jang and fought hard until the third game. Although he lost the first set of the first game, he came from behind to win the game, and seemed to be on the brink of losing the second game, he arrived at the entrance of the championship with a complete victory in the third game on Sunday.

Heungkuk Life Insurance's strength is that it has a clear ace named Kim Yeon-koung. When all the players are shaken, the team does not collapse and holds out because of Kim Yeon-koung.

Heungkuk Life Insurance is absolutely advantageous as it owns Kim Yeon-koung. She is a player who has shown great performance in everything from receiving and connecting to defense, blocking to serve and attacking. She is also playing a central role in leading the team. It is a tremendous power. Considering her capacity to mobilize spectators, Kim is receiving too small an annual salary considering her capacity and contribution. The V-League needs to change its annual salary system and make it a reality. It is a bad law to block Super Ace's annual salary like this.

Heungkuk Life reached its current position with Willow's pomping pomping performance amid Kim Yeon-koung's performance. If Willow performs at a certain level, it will be the icing on the cake. It is no exaggeration to say that Willow holds the key to winning Heungkuk Life in the championship match.

In addition, it remains to be seen whether Reyna has played well. Although Reyna took the court a little later this season, her performances in matches including outside heater, middle blocker and apogit speaker were impressive. Her performance should never be underestimated.

All players should respect and emulate Lee's sense of responsibility, willingness to do it, and the meaning of tears that he has shown since his achievement.

Heungkuk Life Insurance's game is always focused on the physical condition and performance of setter Lee Won-jung. Only when Lee Won-jung plays, Heungkuk Life can perform the best. It was a very difficult journey in the situation of the setter replacement. I wonder how much Lee Won-jung will show today.

Heungkuk Life Insurance's middle blocker consists of Lee Ju-ah and Kim Soo-ji. However, almost no attack has been made except for blocking. The key is whether we can go while saving this part.

In an interview with Soo Hoon shortly after the playoff ended two days ago, Kim said this. "I'm confident in the match. I think I've found out that the opponent team is playing a difficult game." In other words, she has a solution by winning the fifth and sixth rounds of shutdowns.

Yang Hyo-jin, on the other hand, also showed his determination that he would not yield. After confirming the No. 1 ranking in the regular league, he said in the team dinner, "The opponent team will come back after a tough game, and we just need to take a rest and prepare well." He meant that if he recovers his original performance while resting, he will be no match for him.

The two players are close friends. They were roommates during the national team days. Yang expressed her desire to play in the same team for at least one season, and after the end of last season, Kim agonized over transfer but ultimately chose to stay.

Kim and Yang met in the championship match with each other through the net. There is no concession. There are two teams, Hyo-jin E&C and Yeongyeong Life Insurance.