Korean Air is one win away from winning its fourth consecutive men’s professional volleyball title.

Korean Air swept OK Financial Group 3-0 (25-21, 25-21, 29-27) in three sets in the second match of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League Men’s Championship at the Gyeyang Gymnasium in Incheon, South Korea, on 토토 Wednesday.

With the victory, Korean Air, which also won the first two games, needs just one win in its remaining three matches to win the overall title for the fourth consecutive year. In the 18 championships held until last year, the team that won the first and second games went on to win the title without exception.

OK Financial Group, on the other hand, is on the verge of exiting the championship without a single victory in eight years.

Korean Air dominated the first set, led by Maksim, who scored eight points (77.78% attack success rate). At 13-12, Kwak Seung-seok’s quick open and Maksim’s service ace extended the lead to five points, and at 16-14, Lim Dong-hyuk’s staggered attack, an opponent attack error, and a block by Jeong Ji-seok extended the lead to five points.

With a 21.05% receiving efficiency, OK Financial Group was unable to gain a foothold and dropped the first set.

In the second set, OK Financial Group failed to improve their receiving line and their efficiency dropped to 13.04%. This led to a low attack success rate (39.29%).

Korean Air’s Maksim continued his dominance with six kills (50.00%), while Lim Dong-hyuk, who came on at 13-12, accounted for all of the team’s kills (four) before being replaced at 17-17.

Korean Air led 21-20, but Leo’s back-attack went off the court and his retry was blocked by Kwak Seung-seok.

Korean Air closed out the second set with a quick open from Maksim and a block from Kim Gyu-min.

OK Financial Group turned the tide in the third set by effectively defending Maksim. They collected four blocks against Maksim alone.

Korean Air’s third-set deficit deepened as Maksim’s two quick open attempts at 19-20 both fell outside the court. Kwak Seung-seok stemmed the tide with a quick opener, and on the ensuing attack, he tossed the ball perfectly to Jung Ji-seok, who tied the score with an open score.

From there, the teams traded points, but neither team could get within 25 points. Maksim tied the score at 26-27 with a back-attack, and setter Han saved match point with an exquisite diagonal serve.

Middle blocker Kim Min-jae then blocked a late attack from opposite hitter Leo to end the match.

Korean Air’s top performers on the day were Maksim (19 points), Kwak Seung-seok (11 points), Jeong Jung-seok (10 points), and Lim Dong-hyuk (9 points). Kwak Seung-seok and Kim Min-jae were especially instrumental in the third set when Maksim was blocked, contributing five and four points, respectively (over 100 percent offensive success rate).

OK Financial Group was led by Leo (22 points), but lacked support from other players such as Bayarsaihan (7 points) and Song Hee-chae (5 points).

Game 3 of the championship will be held on April 2 in Ansan.