Kim Yeon-koung Signs 40-Year-Old Hwang Yeon-ju Five Days Before Shujitsu Rematch, Then Throws Her Into the Match

With only five days left before the rematch against Shujitsu High School, Kim Yeon-koung signed Hwang Yeon-ju, a former women's national team player, as a new member of Wonder Dogs. In the match itself, as the team came apart, she sent Hwang onto the court.

A rematch short of players

Episode 2 of the MBC entertainment show "Rookie Coach Kim Yeon-koung 2", aired on the 18th, showed Wonder Dogs preparing to face Shujitsu High School again. Shujitsu had handed the team a painful comeback defeat in season 1. Kim had set "winning every game" as this season's goal, which made Shujitsu a team that had to be beaten. In season 1, Wonder Dogs won the first two sets and then lost the next three straight. The players were determined to pay back that defeat, but the opponent was waiting with a stronger lineup.

A new setback arrived the day before the match. Han Song-hee, who had been preparing as a starter, was injured, forcing Kim to revise her game plan just before play began.

"The world No. 1" across the net

What unsettled Wonder Dogs even more was Shujitsu's new ace. Oonishi Yukiji, a first-year student who has become the centre of the team, needled Kim before the match. "I'm the world No. 1," Oonishi said. "I know Kim Yeon-koung was the world No. 1, but I'm going to take that spot."

Told that Oonishi had called herself the world No. 1, Kim replied: "She says she's number one in the world? Herself? Come on. I've been number one a lot. As someone who's done it, being number one isn't easy." In the match, though, she had to concede that the opponent's confidence was no bluff.

Errors, silence and a coach's temper

Oonishi Yukiji kept scoring in runs and shook Wonder Dogs' defence. Wonder Dogs' own errors piled on, the first set tilted by a wide margin, and the players' nerves did not settle in the second. Kim acknowledged the ace's ability but could not hide her frustration that her prepared tactics were not working. "She played so well that even I was surprised," Kim said, adding that she felt the power of confidence as the opponent kept scoring. She said she could not help but acknowledge the confidence that comes from an attitude of "I'm the world No. 1 and I'm ready today."

The problem was not only the score. With the players' mental state collapsing, communication between Kim and the team broke down as well. "I tried to communicate with the players, but they seemed to be looking somewhere else, not at me," Kim said. "We were calling them and they didn't even turn around, they were staring off into the distance." The players could not carry out the plays they had prepared, nor did they seem able to take in instructions, and Kim said she felt bewildered.

Kim was even more candid about her state of mind. "This was my first time in a situation like this, and I was so frustrated and wondered what to do. I wondered whether I should yell," she said. "My anger gauge was rising too much." Even Kim, who usually leads the team with cool judgment and strong charisma, rarely faces such a moment. Rather than letting her emotions out, she tried to settle the mood by calming the players with "It's okay." She judged that, to turn the match around, the players' shaken psychology had to be repaired before any technical instruction. "I believed that if our players just got their heads back and played their own game, we would win," she stressed. She saw a chance of winning if the team regained its true form, even with tactics in tatters and nerves shaken.

Why Hwang Yeon-ju

Hwang Yeon-ju is a veteran opposite hitter who once helped lead Korean women's volleyball in its heyday. She declared her retirement from active play in May, after the disappointment of being pushed into a backup role. She is 40 this year, two years older than Kim. The release and recruitment system introduced this season let Kim fill gaps in her team, and she reached out to Hwang for her experience and skill.

Kim explained the choice: "I needed her experience, and I needed a player who could lead this team well, so I had her try out." She went on: "When she tried out, I was worried that her condition wasn't at 100% yet, but there was a technical side that comes from experience." She judged Hwang to be the player Wonder Dogs needed now. In the match, Kim played the Hwang card. "I felt the absence of Pyo Seung-ju was big. We need that kind of player on the court," she said. With inexperienced players wobbling under heavy pressure, she wanted a veteran to steady the court, and she expected Hwang, though not fully warmed up, to bring change through the stability and skill that come from match experience.

Season 2 preparations behind the gamble

Kim had focused this season on building a more refined "system volleyball". She said that where season 1 was about building the overall framework, this time she would make each position's movements and set plays concrete. Position-specific coaches were assigned, with individual training in the morning and team training in the afternoon, doubling the training volume from last year. The idea was to raise organisation and tactical polish so the team would not waver in any situation, rather than relying on the players' individual ability alone.

The attack plan also had to change, because Pyo Seung-ju, the main attacker in season 1, was missing. Kim checked training times herself with a stopwatch and worked to speed up the build-up of attacks. "When we had a good main attacker like Pyo Seung-ju, we focused on accuracy, but now we have no main attacker, so we have to attack quickly before the opponent's defence sets up," she explained. The strategy was to break down the opposing defensive organisation with speed and timing rather than precision alone.

Adapting to the new tactics was not smooth. Opposite hitter Yoon Young-in struggled with the faster attack, deepening Kim's worries. "I think it'd be fine if only Young-in works hard, but it's still unclear," Kim said candidly. "I thought she'd do a bit better, but she isn't fully living up to that trust, not 100%." To make matters worse, Yoon was injured during training, putting the lineup in doubt.

A triple blow

Wonder Dogs, who had been sharpening their blades to avenge the season 1 comeback loss, now face a triple blow: unexpected injuries, an opposing ace in top form and shaken morale. Attention turns to whether Kim's tactical gamble and Hwang's veteran experience can revive the team's collapsed mood, and whether Wonder Dogs can claim their first win of season 2 and find a turning point.

Read the original (Korean)