The South Korea National Under-20 Men’s Volleyball Team (U20), led by head coach Kim Jang-bin, tested their form against Kyung Hee University before heading to the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) 2024 Asian Men’s U20 Championship in Surabaya, Indonesia, from March 23-30.
The U20s played a practice match against Kyunghee University on May 5 at Kyunghee University Gymnasium in Suwon, South Korea. The match lasted four sets, with the U20s winning 4-0 (25-22, 25-22, 33-31, 25-23). The flow was tight. Both teams performed well on both offense and defense, but it was the 파워볼게임 U20s who came through in the final moments, racking up set points one by one.

The U20s started Kim Kwan-woo (Cheonan High School 3), Yoon Kyung (Male High School 3), Yoon Seo-jin (KB Insurance), Yoon Ha-joon (Suseong High School 3), Jang Jang-seok (Sokcho High School 3), Lim In-gyu (Suseong High School 3), and Kang Seung-il (Korean Air). Lee Woo-jin (Monza) focused on recovering from a minor muscle injury, while Kyunghee University’s Park Jun-seo, Ma Yoon-seo, Cho Jin-seok, Park Ye-chan, Lee Jung-min, Kim Young-tae, and Kim Jun-seop took the court first.
The U20s were led by Yoon Kyung-kyung and Yoon Ha-joon, who combined for a team-high 17 points. Park Woo-young (Cheonan High School 3) followed with 12 points. For Kyung Hee University, Lee Jung-min scored a team-high 16 points. Yeom Siwon and Park Yeechan also chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Among them, Yoon Kyung-kyung scored a team-high 17 points while showing sharp decision-making with a 64% success rate in attack. She not only attacked from the open, but also skillfully handled back attacks. She was able to break down Kyung Hee University’s high blocking wall, which was held up by Cho Jin-seok.
However, Yoon was not satisfied with the victory. “We scored a lot of points, but it was unfortunate that we made a lot of errors in serving and receiving. As an apogee, I have to make sure to handle the balls that the team connects to me, but I also had a few attacking errors that I need to reflect on,” he said. “I didn’t do anything special. I just touched the ball a lot because my teammates did a good job of creating chances,” he humbled himself.
Despite her modest answer, Kim sees a bright future for Yoon Kyung. “I can say that her offense is the best among high school players,” Kim told us last year. A year later, he still said, “(Yoon) is a player who always works hard in training. His attitude is very exemplary. This year, I saw that his performance was better than last year. I have high expectations for him.”
Last year, Korea’s U19 men’s national volleyball team won its first bronze medal in 30 years at the FIVB World Youth Volleyball Championship. In the process, several stars were born, including Lee Woo-jin, Yoon Seo-jin, and Kang Seung-il. Yoon Kyung was there, too, as a member of the same national team.
“I just want the team to do well,” Yoon said. “I just want the team to do well,” she says shyly, “and I don’t want to make a name for myself so that I don’t hurt the team at the Asian Youth Volleyball Championship.
However, when she talked about the team’s goals, her eyes lit up. “This time (at the Asian Youth Championship), I really want to get a ticket to the World Youth Volleyball Championship and come back next year as a member of this team, and I will do whatever I can to make that happen,” Yoon said emphatically.
Yoon Kyung is quickly becoming the mainstay of the U20 national team, and it will be interesting to see what he can do at the Asian U20 Championships.