Kang So-hui becomes third-time queen of Cup Competition

GS Caltex Kang So-hui was selected as the team’s new captain this year, making her the youngest among the seven teams in the V-League Women. “The role of a team captain comes with a sense of responsibility. It is never an easy job, but I am sure that Kang will make it,” said the team’s coach Cha Sang-hyun who has guided her since her second year in the country’s professional volleyball league. Kang brought her team to victory in the first cup competition since she took charge of the team, proving to be the queen of the cup competition.

In the final of the Gumi Dodram KOVO Cup 2023 held last Saturday at Park Jung-Hee Stadium, Gumi, GS Caltex won a losing game against IBK Industrial Bank of Korea by 3 to 1 (26-28, 25-23, 25-13, 25-21), presenting the KOVO Women’s most winning team the sixth trophy ever. Captain Kang, who incredibly doubled as an outside hitter (left) on the forefront of getting points, gained 27 out of the press members’ 31 votes to become the competition’s MVP. She also recorded as many as 91 points (successful offensive performance of 44.51 percent), or the highest among the team players in the cup competition. In the final match, she earned 21 points or the team’s second highest following Yoo Seo-yeon. Becoming the cup competition’s MVP this year again following 2017 and 2020, she surpassed Industrial Bank of Korea Kim Hee-jin to be the most MVP in the country’s women’s professional volleyball league.

With all the excitement of the championship, Kang headed to Jincheon National Training Center to join the national team on Sunday. It is likely that she will also serve as the lead attacker in the Asian Women's Volleyball Championship scheduled by the end of this month and the final qualifying round of the Paris Olympic Games and the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 in September. She also recorded 83 points, or the team’s highest points, tying with Heungkuk Life Insurance Kim Da-eun in the Volleyball Nations League from June to July.


Hong-Gu Kang windup@donga.com