Andres Villena (29), who was put in as a firefighter for Uijeongbu KB Insurance (hereinafter referred to as KB Insurance), a professional volleyball team in crisis, is proving that ‘old is good’ by showing off his skills.
KB Insurance caused a runner-up blast last season, but had a difficult first half in the 2022-2023 season with 3 wins and 3 losses in the first round, 6 losses in the second round, and 2 wins and 4 losses in the third round. In particular, until the beginning of last month, it fell into a swamp of 8 consecutive losses and stayed at the bottom.
In the end, the club made a decision. I chose to break up with foreign player Nicola Melanac. This is because it is difficult to trust him and spend a season in the V-League, where foreign players are highly dependent.
Spanish apogee spiker Vijena, familiar to domestic fans, was recruited as a substitute for Nicola. Although he is not tall at 194 cm, his strength is high flight using quick mobility and elasticity. ) and was selected as one of the ‘Best 7’.
He renewed his contract with Korean Air for the next season, but left the team after 10 games in the 2020-2021 season due to a knee injury. After returning to CV Teruel in the Spanish league for the next two seasons, he dreamed of returning to the V-League and submitted an application for the foreign player draft this season, but was not selected. 안전놀이터
KB Insurance’s recruitment of Villena is currently a great success. He had concerns about his sense of play, but he proved his worth in just one game. On the 27th of last month, in the return match against KEPCO in the V-League, he scored 33 points and scored 61.54% of the attack success rate.
Then, on the 31st against Hyundai Capital, on the 3rd against Woori Card, the team failed to prevent their defeat, but struggled with 18 and 19 points, respectively. In particular, in the return match against Woori Card on the 6th, he scored 25 points, had a 60% attack success rate, 3.67 defense per set, and 3.67 digs.
After joining Villena, KB Insurance, which recorded 2 wins and 2 losses, succeeded in getting out of last place in 6th place. Although the gap with the top teams is large, it is impossible to guarantee advancement to the postseason, but the atmosphere of the team that had subsided due to Vijena’s performance is revived and synergy is created, so future performances are expected more.