Hillstate sign Ivonne Montano to replace injured Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate added new foreign player Ivonne Montano to their squad on Monday after dropping Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani due to injury.

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate announce the signing of Ivonne Montano from Muratpasa Bld of the Turkish Women's Volleyball League through their official Instagram account on Monday. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate added new foreign player Ivonne Montano to their squad on Monday after dropping Yaasmeen Bedart-Ghani due to injury.

Montano, 27, is a Colombian opposite hitter who has been playing for Muratpasa Bld in the second division of the Turkish Women's Volleyball League. She started her career in 2013 at Openjobmetis Ornavasso in the Italian volleyball league and moved around multiple leagues, playing in Germany, France and Switzerland before Turkey.

The Colombian was the top scorer in the Swiss league for two seasons in a row when she was playing for Zesar VFM Franches-Montagnes in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons.

She will replace Bedart-Ghani, who has missed multiple matches since December last year due to a back injury.

Hillstate have been the most successful team in the V League this season, riding a 15-game winning streak in the early days of the season. Though that streak ended last year, the Suwon side are still league leaders with 60 points on the table, but they have not been the same since Bedart-Ghani was injured.

The top team lost two games in a row to GS Caltex Seoul KIXX and Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass last month.

Bedart-Ghani’s absence was particularly noticeable in the game against the KIXX, because none of the Hillstate players could score anywhere near as many points as the 38 that Bedart-Ghani managed against the Seoul side in an earlier game in December last year.

Yang Hyo-jin recorded 20 points in the more recent game against the KIXX and has been carrying the Suwon side’s attack, but it has not been enough to completely fill the vacancy left by Bedart-Ghani.

Montano’s first match with Hillstate will likely be against the last-place Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers at Pepper Stadium in Gwangju on Friday.

Meanwhile, Hillstate said that although the club was required to release Bedart-Ghani in order to sign Montano under V League quotas, they will continue to support her as she recovers from her back injury.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]