Pink Spiders could steal Hillstate's V League lead in the 11th hour, again

The Pink Spiders won three straight sets in their clash against league leaders Hillstate to narrow their gap to one point with a game each to go.

Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders' Kim Yeon-koung, second from right, celebrates during a V League game against Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi on Tuesday. [YONHAP]

Second-place Heungkuk Life Insurance Pink Spiders blocked V League leaders Suwon Hyundai Engineering & Construction Hillstate from locking in the league title with a clean 3-0 victory in Tuesday’s head-to-head clash.

With four points separating the two sides before Tuesday’s game at Suwon Gymnasium in Suwon, Gyeonggi, Hillstate needed just two points to secure the league title, which would have been possible with a 3-2 win.

In the V League, the margin of victory determines how many points a team takes from the game, with a 3-0 or 3-1 win earning three points. If the score ends 3-2, the winning team takes two points and the losing team earns one point.

The Pink Spiders, however, did not let that happen, winning three straight sets 25-22, 27-25 and 25-20 to narrow the points gap to one point.

The league winners will be crowned on Saturday after Hillstate play their last game of the 2023-24 season against last-place Gwangju Pepper Savings Bank AI Peppers.

Before that, the Pink Spiders must secure at least one point from Friday’s game against GS Caltex Seoul Kixx to keep their league title hopes alive.

If the Pink Spiders take one point and Hillstate lose Saturday’s game 3-0 or 3-1, the Pink Spiders will snatch the title, as the two sides will then be tied on points. The Pink Spiders will edge out the Suwon side by more wins in the league — the second deciding factor when two teams are tied.

The Pink Spiders have 27 wins, two more than Hillstate.

If the Pink Spiders win the league this year, it will be their second straight league title, having won the league last year after snatching the top spot from the Suwon side in the second half of the campaign.

The Pink Spiders, however, failed to win the best-of-five championship last year as Gimcheon Korea Expressway Hi-Pass came from two games behind to take the title.

Once the regular season ends on Sunday, the postseason will begin. Third-place Daejeon Jung Kwan Jang Red Sparks and the league runners-up compete in the playoffs to face the league winners in the championship, which runs through April.

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