South Korea downs Japan for U23 Volleyball bronze

Just like that the fab four are starting to take shape.

South Korea put down Japan 26-24, 25-23, 25-15, to clinch the bronze medal of the Asian U23 Women’s Volleyball Championship on Saturday afternoon at Philsports Arena.

Myounghwa Moon made use of her feathery touch that started the Koreans’ four unanswered points in the third set that sealed the match and the hardware.

South Korea head coach Sungjin Hong said they had to adjust after starting out poorly in the medal game.

“We started slow,” said Hong through an interpreter. “Japan is a good team [especially in] defense but we were able to [win] because of our combination attacks.”

South Korea and Japan were in a near stalemate midway through the third set at 14-13 but the Koreans staged a 7-0 run that pulled them away for good.

Japan head coach Kiyoshi Abo said the Koreans just wanted the medal more than them and their errors compounded their situation.

“Korea has a good fighting spirit,” said Abo through an interpreter. “They want to win more than than us. Our offense was good, but our defense was bad and unfortunately we made too many mistakes.”

Japan had 19 errors that proved costly while South Korea limited their own to 14.

Lee Soyoung and An Hyeri had 14 points apiece to lead South Korea while Ha Hyejin added 11.

Kaori Mabashi led Japan with 13 points while Nanako Sakamoto and Yuka Imamura combined for 22.