Woori Card defeated KB Insurance to reach the playoffs (best-of-three series) for the first time in two years.
Woori Card claimed a dominant 3-0 set victory (25-20, 25-18, 25-18) over KB Insurance in the men's V-League Jin Air 2025-2026 semi-playoff (single elimination) away match held at Gyeongmin University Gymnasium in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province on Sunday. Woori Card will face regular season second-place Hyundai Capital in Game 1 of the playoffs at Cheonan Yugwansun Gymnasium on Tuesday.
Woori Card, which fell to OK Financial Group with two losses in the 2023-2024 season playoffs, will once again challenge for a spot in the championship series.
Woori Card, which finished the regular season in fourth place, battled fiercely with third-place KB Insurance in the early stages of the match. The first set began with a tight seesaw game separated by a single point, with neither side giving ground.
The crack in the match appeared late in the first set. Woori Card shook the momentum with its serves. Ali Haghparast (registered name Ali), Woori Card's Asian quota player who had been leading the scoring in top condition from the start of the set, unleashed powerful serves that dismantled KB Insurance's receive line. Ali fired a cannonball serve at 20-19, and KB Insurance's reception faltered, preventing them from mounting effective attacks. Woori Card's Lee Sang-hyun blocked Im Sung-jin's attack to extend the lead to two points. With his confidence surging, Ali hammered consecutive power serves to widen the gap to 23-19. Having seized the initiative, Woori Card closed out the first set 25-20.
The second set also tilted on a single serve. Kim Ji-han was the protagonist. Kim Ji-han broke down KB Insurance with a sharply moving floater serve at 11-9.
KB Insurance players scrambled in confusion and failed to receive the ball. Woori Card pulled away to 16-9, with Kim Ji-han contributing four service aces. Riding the momentum, Woori Card maintained the gap and comfortably took a 2-0 set lead.
Woori Card gave KB Insurance no chance to rally and finished the match in the third set. After Im Sung-jin's service error at 9-8 gave Woori Card a two-point lead, Raphael Araujo (registered name Araujo) blocked Im Sung-jin's back-row attack to add another point. Ali then recorded a service ace to stretch the lead to four points. Woori Card never allowed a comeback and closed out the match.
Ali led the team with a match-high 18 points including three service aces (65.22% attack success rate), while Araujo added 15 points (66.67% attack success rate) to power the offense. Kim Ji-han contributed 10 points including four service aces.
For KB Insurance, Andres Villena (registered name Villena) fought hard with 11 points, but the team's defensive problems were exposed as their season came to an anticlimactic end.