’36-point explosion’ Nia Reed… led the surprise
Pepper Savings Bank caused a surprise by catching Hyundai E&C for the first time since its establishment.
Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers, led by acting manager Lee Kyung-soo, scored a set score of 3-2 (21-25,25-20,20- 25,25-20,15-12) won. Pepper Savings Bank, which was losing 1-2 until the 3rd set, showed its potential to win the 4th and 5th sets in a row, and won its first win against Hyundai E&C, which had never won 9 times in the V-League since its establishment. (3 wins and 24 losses).
For Pepper Savings Bank, local ace Lee Han-bi scored 15 points with an attack success rate of 42.42%, middle blocker Choi Ga-eun scored 15 points including 7 blocks, and outside hitter Park Kyung-hyeon also scored 10 points with 22 digs. However, there was another contributor to Pepper Savings Bank’s third win of the season that day. It was Nia Reed, a foreign player from Pepper Savings Bank, who scored 36 points, the most for both teams, attempting 85 spikes that day.
No. 1 foreign player who performed above the basics every season
The Korean Volleyball Federation abolished the free contract system and introduced the draft system from the 2015-2016 season as the proportion of foreign players increased and competition for foreign players became increasingly fierce for each club. Since the introduction of the draft system, the draft of foreign players in the women’s department has been carried out a total of 8 times, and most of the players who have been nominated for the first place in the past have raised their team performance to the upper middle or higher ranks or recorded outstanding individual results, fulfilling their role as the first player.
In 2015, when the draft system was introduced, the first player to receive the first pick was Hailey Spellman (Levalois Sporting Club), a 202cm left-handed striker. Haley, who played an active role at KGC Ginseng Corporation, recorded a high attack share of 44.69% and ranked first in scoring, but Ginseng Corporation stayed at the bottom of the 2015-2016 season. Haley joined Hyundai E&C, which was leading the 2019-2020 season as a substitute foreign player, but had the misfortune of ending the season early due to Corona 19.
Once again in 2016, Ginseng Corporation, which obtained the first choice in the foreign player draft, nominated Samantha Middleborn as the first choice, but replaced the foreign player before the season even started due to Middleborn’s pregnancy. However, Alena Bergsma, a substitute foreign player, became the top scorer in the 2016-2017 season and 2017-2018 season in a row, making a big success as a ‘lucky ball’. In 2018, Alena was once again nominated by the Korea Ginseng Corporation as the first overall. 안전놀이터
Ginseng Corporation, which exercised the first pick in 4 out of 8 drafts of foreign players, selected Valentina Diouf (Busto Arsicio), a giant from the Italian national team, in 2019, and Diouf won the top scorer for two consecutive seasons. Ivana Nesovic of Korea Expressway Corporation High Pass, who received the overall 1st overall nomination in 2017, led Korea Expressway Corporation to a combined victory, and 2020 1st place Anna Lazareva (Fenerbahce SK) advanced IBK Industrial Bank Altos to the playoffs made it
However, Elisabeth Inevarga (Ginseng Corporation), who was selected as the first choice by the new team Pepper Savings Bank in 2021, scored 598 points in 30 games in the 2021-2022 season, scoring 6th, falling somewhat short of her expectations. Pepper Savings Bank gave up on renewing the contract with Elisabeth after much consideration, but Elisabeth, who was nominated by the Ginseng Corporation as the second choice last year, is unrivaled in the scoring category this season. For Pepper Savings Bank, this was a bittersweet result.
Nia Reed is getting stronger as the season progresses
America’s apogee spiker Nia Reid, who is 189 cm tall and has excellent athletic ability, played an active part in Turkiye, France and Brazil leagues. In particular, in the Brazilian league in the 2021-2022 season, he showed off his outstanding attack power to the extent that he won the top scorer. Nia Reed, who applied for participation in the 2020-2021 season and the 2021-2022 season V-League foreign player draft, but was not selected, was nominated by Pepper Savings Bank as the first overall in the 2022 foreign player draft after three moves.
Nia Reid entered the V-League with the splendid title of top scorer in the Brazilian league and first overall in the foreign player draft, but at the beginning of the season, she struggled as she did not work well with setter Lee Go-eun. In particular, the disappointment in Nia Reed grew as players such as Elisabeth, who played an active part in Pepper Savings Bank last season, and Yelena Mrazenovich (Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders), who Pepper Savings Bank did not choose, made a big success.
However, Nia Reid started to come back to life as she led Pepper Savings Bank’s first win of the season with 38 points against the road construction on December 31, 2022. In fact, Nia Reed, who was in 6th place with 111 points in 6 games in the 1st round, improved her condition by recording 133 points in 6 games in the 4th round and 4th. His chemistry with setter Lee Go-eun, who had been shaky at the beginning of the season, gradually improved, and the attack success rate, which was only 33.22% in the first round, rose significantly to 37.35% in the fourth round.
And Nia Reed led Pepper Savings Bank to its third win of the season with an activity close to a one-man show in the home game against Hyundai E&C on the 10th, when Hyundai E&C’s new foreign player Yvone Montaño debuted. Nia Reed had an attack share of 49.13%, almost half of the team’s offense, and scored 34 offensive points with a 40% success rate, and scored 36 points with two blocks. Nia Reid also won the foreign player matchup against Montaño, who scored 13 points in his V-League debut.
Nia Reed, who overtook Kim Yeon-kyung (Heungkuk Life Insurance, 493 points) and rose to 4th place (565 points) in the season, scored 81 points in 3 games in the 5th round, overtaking Catherine Bell (Road Corporation) with 72 points to lead the 5th round in scoring. is up on Pepper Savings Bank is still at the bottom with 3 wins and 24 losses despite a thrilling victory over the leading Hyundai E&C. However, Nia Reid, a foreign player, is showing more and more performance befitting the dignity of a first-place foreign player as the season progresses.