MVP Leo goes to Hyundai Capital

"Probability 3.57%."

The result was a surprising one. Korean Air's Jumbos, the unified Korean Air team that received only five beads out of 140 drawing balls, even became the top draft pick for foreign players for the fourth consecutive year. The defending champion Korean Air chose Yosvani Hernandez, the top scorer last season.

The Korea Volleyball Federation KOVO held the 2024 KOVO Men's Foreign Player Draft at Dubai Science Park in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on the 11th.

Through the two-day tryout that began on the 9th, the final selection of each club was made public on the day. A total of 40 players were drafted this time. Yosvani, Leonardo Leyva registered name Leo, Artem Sushko registered name Artem and Maxim Zigalov registered name Maxim, who played in the V-League in the previous season, were waiting for the team to make a choice.

Similarly, Andres Villena, who is registered as Villena, has successfully extended her career with KB Insurance, her original team. The new player will receive 400,000 U.S. dollars in annual salary and the renewed player will receive 550,000 dollars.

The first order of the official event was the drawing of draft rankings. The lottery started last season with the marbles of KB Insurance 35, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance 30, Korea Electric Power Corporation 25, Hyundai Capital 20, Woori Card 15, No. 2, OK Financial Group 10, and Korean Air 5, ranked first.

Soon, the stadium shook. Korean Air's orange ball, which contained only five of the 140 balls, was the first to escape from the drawing machine. The blue ball of Hyundai Capital, the fourth-ranked team, was also picked as the second-ranked team. The order of nominations was then decided in order of KB Insurance, Korea Electric Power Corp., Woori Card, Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance and OK Financial Group.

The No. 1 Korean Air flight manager Tommy Tilikainen personally named outside heater Yosvani, who failed to renew his contract with Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance. Yosvani led Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance's offense last season, ranking first in 36 games with 1,068 points, seventh in overall offense 50.90 percent, sixth in overall offense 45.23 percent, first in attack by time difference 80.95 percent, fifth in attack by rear position 53.29 percent, and first in serve 0.546 points. He played in the Korean Air uniform as a substitute for Villena in the 2020-2021 season. After four seasons, he will return to Incheon.

The second-ranked Hyundai Capital was not able to join Philippe Blanc as the new coach for the Japanese national team. Instead, Fabio Storty, the team's coach, chose Leo, who failed to renew his contract with OK Financial Group. Leo led OK Financial Group to the championship last season by ranking second in the scoring league 955 points, second in overall offense 54.54 percent, second in serve 0.489 points, second in hind offense 57.17 percent, third in offense 73.33 percent, and first in offense 50.36% due to a time lag. In recognition of his achievement, he won his fourth regular league MVP in nine years. With Leo joining, Hyundai Capital will be able to build a formidable offensive triangle-formation leading to Jeon Kwang-in, Heo Soo-bong, and Leo.

The third-ranked KB Insurance Co. called out the name of Villena, who already renewed her contract. In 35 games last season, Villena played a key role in KB Insurance, ranking third 923 points and third overall in offense 53.36 percent. Her relationship with Miguel Rivera became hot topic of conversation. "Villena performed well last season. I will help her maintain that level. I trust Villena. If there was a player who was better than Villena, I would have picked her," he said. 스포츠중계

KEPCO coach Kwon Young-min chose Louis Elian Estrada, who is 201 centimeters tall, as the fourth candidate. Lewis, who can play both outside heater and apogit speaker, is a Cuban god born in 2000 who dreams of becoming the next Leo. Lewis, who boasts dynamic jumps and high RBI, was evaluated as having exceptional ability in attack.

The fifth-ranked Woori Card was also replaced by Mauricio Paes, who was absent due to the Iranian national team's leadership. Kim chose apogit spiker Michael Ahi 25 of the Netherlands. His height is 196 centimeters, which is a bit disappointing compared to other players, but he caught the attention of field officials with his resilient jump and energetic spike. He can also handle outside heaters, so he has a wide range of tactics. He also received high marks for his active attitude in testing.

Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance, which was pushed to the sixth place even after receiving the second-highest number of 30 balls, asked for time and was in deep agony. Coach Kim Sang-woo, who passed the Django, nominated Mattei Kok 27 of Slovenia, who dropped out due to injury while playing for Woori Card last season.

Lastly, Ogiino Masahiro's choice of OK Financial Group's coach drew attention. He did not choose Leo, the MVP who led OK Financial Group to the championship game last season. He said that there was a player who was more suitable for volleyball the OK Financial Group because of his good skill, fighting, and spirit through the tryout. He chose Manuel Luconi, a 192-centimeter-tall Apogit Spiker.

Thomas Edgar 35, Australia, who played for LIG Non-life Insurance currently KB Insurance, tried again for the V League in 10 seasons, but was not nominated. In addition, Maxim and Artem, who played in the V League last season, failed to get re-employed, and Kyle Russell and Ronald Jimenez, other V League experienced workers, were unfortunately not called by the club.