It has been more than 100 days since he won his last victory.

Pepper Savings Bank's pride in women's professional volleyball has been crumpled to perfection. It disgraced itself with the longest losing streak in women's team, and if it loses one more game, it will have the record of most losses in a season in V-League history.

Against this backdrop, Pepper will head to Samsan Gymnasium in Incheon to play the final match of the fifth round of the Dodram 2023-2024 V-League on Tuesday. The opponent is Heungkuk Life Insurance, which is ranked second.

Not to mention the atmosphere. Pepper lost to Jeonggwanjang with a set score of 1-3 on the 16th, forcing her to lose 22 consecutive games. It is the longest losing streak in women's history. She showed persistent play against Jeonggwanjang to bring a set, but failed to reverse the trend.

It was also a match that determined the lowest ranking seventh in the women's category this season. Korea Expressway Corporation, which is ranking sixth, has 32 points 10-20, while Pepper has 8 points 2-27. Even if it secures maximum points that it can gain from the remaining seven games, it will only have 29 points.

Nevertheless, they should not lose motivation. They cannot be disgraced anymore.

Pepper had three wins and 28 losses 11 points in his first season 2021-2022 season, keeping the record of the most losses in a single season in the history of professional volleyball. He is on the verge of breaking this record by himself this season. If he loses the Heungkuk Life match immediately, this will be the same.

The motivation of Heungkuk Life Insurance is also certain. If it beats Pepper on the day and acquires three points, it can rise to No. 1 again in 66 days. Heungkuk Life is ranking second in this season with 23 wins and six losses 64 points. There is a point gap with No. 1 Hyundai E&C 22 wins, seven losses and 67 points.

Heungkuk Life Insurance had the chance to reclaim the top spot in the previous match against IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, but failed to achieve its goal due to lack of endurance. With three points needed, Heungkuk Life Insurance won the first and second sets first, but lost the third and fourth sets to the opponent team, which led to five sets in the match. Although it won the match, it failed to regain the first place by only bringing two points.

It is a golden opportunity to regain the top spot. However, there is a variable. It is the injury of foreign player Willow Johnson registered name: 191 centimeters. Willow sustained a knee injury in the match against Hyundai Engineering & Construction on Wednesday last week. "I want to return as soon as possible. However, I expect at least two weeks to recover," coach Marcello Avondinza said on the timing of his return to Willow.

Heungkuk Life Insurance filled the void by deploying Kim Mi-yeon 177 centimeters instead of Willow in the previous match. Early in the first set, Kim Mi-yeon's side did not score a goal and wondered if Willow would feel empty, but later regained sense of play. Notably, in the second set, he scored six points, the second-most in his team.

However, Kim Yeon-koung 192 cm tall and Raina Tokoku 177 cm tall also had to worry about their physical stamina as their attack weight increased. Kim Yeon-koung and Raina accounted for 31.88 percent of attacks and 38.16 percent, respectively.

Heungkuk Life Insurance has an overwhelming advantage in this season's opponent team record with all four wins. Volleyball fans are paying keen attention to the matchup between Pepper, who is aiming to win in 102 days, and Heungkuk Life, which is aiming to regain the lead in 66 days.  스포츠토토