Pink Spiders, Hillstate and Hi-Pass advance to V League playoffs

The regular 2022-23 V League season ended with the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders beating runners-up Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate 3-1 in the last game of the regular season on Sunday.

Yang Hyo-jin of Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate, left, attacks during a V League game against the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders at Samsan World Gymnasium in Incheon on Sunday. [NEWS1]

The regular 2022-23 V League season ended with the Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders beating runners-up Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate 3-1 in the last game of the regular season on Sunday.

Sunday’s game was something of a damp squib as far as final days of the season go, with both teams having already locking in their final spots on the table earlier in the week.

The Pink Spiders won the league with a 3-0 victory over the Hwaseong IBK Altos last Wednesday, securing their first league title since 2019.

The Pink Spiders’ title put Hillstate in second place, which also sent the Suwon side to the playoffs where they face third-place Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass.

Daejeon KGC, who attempted to close the gap with Hi-Pass in order to play the so-called semi-playoff — a series played between the third and fourth team to earn a spot in the playoffs proper, but only if they finish within three points of each other on the regular reason standing — finished outside the required window to take fourth-place and end their season.

The semi-playoff remains entirely theoretical, having never been triggered in the V League since it was introduced.

Meanwhile, the GS Caltex Seoul KIXX, who had fiercely competed with the Hi-Pass and KGC until the end of January for the third spot on the table, came in fifth.

The gap between the three teams was only five points until Jan. 31, but the KIXX slipped down the table after multiple losses in February.

The KIXX ended the season with 48 points total, the same amount as the sixth-place Hwaseong IBK Altos, but edged them out with one more win — the KIXX have 16 wins and the Altos have 15.

The Gwangju AI Peppers, who were founded last season, finished in last place for a second season, but they displayed improvements with two more wins.

The Pink Spiders are the team that saw the most improvement from last season, when they finished in sixth place on the seven-team table.

The Incheon side struggled throughout last season in the absence of their key players as Lee Jae-young and Lee Da-young, who were dropped from the squad in February 2021 following accusations that they bullied their teammates when they were in middle school.

The Incheon Heungkuk Life Pink Spiders pose for a photo after winning the 2022-23 V League title following a 3-0 victory over the Hwaseong IBK Altos last Wednesday at Hwaseong Gymnasium in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi. [YONHAP]

The Pink Spider were formidable this season, however, as star player Kim Yeon-koung led her side to multiple crucial wins and eventually the league title.

The V League champions will now be competing in the five-game championship to be crowned as overall champions.

The three-game series between Hillstate and Hi-Pass will start on Thursday, with the winner advancing to the championship beginning on March 29.

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