'183cm' Short Foreigner Breaks Eggs at All-Star Break

'183cm' Short Foreigner Breaks Eggs at All-Star Break

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Korea Expressway Corporation, where veteran player Libero Lim Myeong-ok is holding out, is strong in receiving and defense. Until Saturday, the women's team ranks first in receiving efficiency (34.26 percent) and third in defense (26.635 per set). However, Korea Expressway Corporation is ranking sixth (20 points, 7 wins and 14 losses) this season. It has shown relatively weak performance in offense.

Korea Expressway Corporation's foreign striker this season is Bulgarian left-handed Merelin Nicolova (22). She boasts powerful swing and sharp serve, but is 183 centimeters tall, making her one of the shortest among foreign players. The key to this season's 2024-2025 season when she debuted in the V-League was how to break through the opponent team's blocker.

Nicolova seemed to be unable to overcome the limitations of her short stature during the first half of the season. Her offense success rate did not reach 40 percent, and she struggled. She bowed her head more often than not. Manager Kim Jong-min said, "Young players born in 2003 who are still growing are experiencing psychological difficulties."
"As a foreign player, I need more confidence," he said. "On the court, they tell me to be confident from the facial expressions."

Nicolova, who performed intensive training such as swing correction during the All-Star break, is recovering her confidence in the second half of the year.

Nicolova, who led her team's 3-2 victory with 24 points and 45.65% attack success rate in the fourth round match against Heungkuk Life Insurance on the 11th, also led the Korea Expressway Corporation to a winning streak with 24 points and 50.00% attack success rate in the match against GS Caltex (3-2) on the 15th. Unlike in the first half, when the attack success rate was high only in good tossing, she is also handling unstable tossing well in the second half. In particular, in the match against GS Caltex, Nicolova plays the role of a "solver" on the right, and not only left wing Kang So-hwi (19 points) and Tanacha Suksot (12 points) but also Bae Yu-na (15 points) from the center joined the scoring. Volleyball, in which several players participate in scoring, which was the goal of the Korea Expressway Corporation this season, is taking shape.

"I did a lot of defense training and how to deal with bad balls during the break. I also learned how to deal with bad balls when the opponent team's blocker is high," Nikolova said. "I want to do better than now and contribute to the team." 메이저놀이터