'Legendary Daughter' Willow Johnson, a New Wind in Heungkuk Life and V-League?

Heungkuk Life Insurance in women's professional volleyball has high expectations for Willow Johnson (registered name: 191 centimeters), a new foreign apogit spy. Heungkuk Life Insurance's key point, which seeks to reclaim the top spot in women's volleyball, is expected to be Willow.

According to the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) on the 29th, Willow's visa and international transfer agreement (ITC) administrative procedures were completed on the 26th. The player registration has also been completed.

Number 51. Now, Willow only has to wear Heungkuk Life's uniform and take the V-League court.  스포츠토토

Professional volleyball, which had an All-Star break last week, will resume from this week. The team that saw the biggest change in both men and women before and after the break was Heungkuk Life in the women's team. This is because the team pushed ahead with the replacement of foreign players during the season. Heungkuk Life Insurance announced on Tuesday that it had concluded the contract with Elena Mrazenovic, who it accompanied for the past two seasons, to replace foreign players.

This season, Yelena showed a consistent performance with scoring ability well over 100 points in the first and second rounds and an attack success rate of more than 40%. However, from the third round (132 points, 37.54 percent), the attack success rate began to fall sharply to the 30 percent range, and only scored double digits in the fourth round (98 points, 34.84 percent), drawing resentment from fans. In the end, Heungkuk Life said goodbye to Yelena after an away game at GS Caltex in the women's fourth round of the Dodram 2023-2024 season at Jangchung Gymnasium in Seoul on the 17th.

In the meantime, Heungkuk Life Insurance lost to rival Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. at the top of the league. Heungkuk Life Insurance Co. is currently ranked second with 18 wins and six losses (50 points). It was eight points ahead of the leader Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. (19 wins, five losses and 58 points).

Heungkuk Life looked for other foreign players to escape the crisis. According to the Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) rules, the range of substitute foreign players during the season is limited to those who played in tryouts before the season.

Heungkuk Life's choice was U.S.A. Apogit Spiker Willow. Willow challenged to play on the V-League court three times earlier. In a tryout held in May last year, he garnered great attention from clubs with his high RBI single and blocking by using his tall height of 191 centimeters.

He is also the daughter of legendary pitcher Randy Johnson of the U.S. Major League Baseball (MLB). His father Randy Johnson is a legendary pitcher in the baseball world who played in the MLB from 1988 to 2009. He won 303-166 with an ERA of 3.29, won five Cy Young Awards, selected 10 All-Star awards, and recorded perfect games and no hits.

Willow said through the club on the 26th, "I played in the professional league for four years and I'm honored to come to Korea." He added, "I've heard amazing and great things about the V-League from American players or high-quality players who played in Korea before," adding, "I'm happy to be able to experience that."

Kim Yeon-koung (191 cm), the "Queen of Volleyball," also expressed her anticipation for Willow. After the last All-Star Game, Kim said, "He is a left-handed player who can hit fast balls. In that sense, he can sway the opponent." She added, "He is a style that our team needed a lot."

He added, "He's so active and fighting. I'm looking forward to it." Willow also explained his strengths, saying, "It brings good energy and energy to the team." He said with confidence, "This will lift the team's energy so we can enjoy it on the court and continue to win the game."

Heungkuk Life Insurance's first game in the fifth round is an away game of the Korea Expressway Corporation that will take place at Gimcheon Indoor Stadium on Thursday. Attention is focusing on whether Willow, who achieved his dream after knocking on the door of the V-League three times, will be able to take the court on the day.