“I’m bewildered, and I don’t feel it.”
GS Caltex setter Kim Ji-won tasted the honor of being promoted to the national team for the first time since his debut. On the recently announced 2023 Volleyball Nations League (VNL) roster, he was named in the setter team along with Yeom Hye-sun (KGC Ginseng Corporation) and Kim Da-in (Hyundai E&C).
Kim Ji-won, a graduate of Jecheon Girls’ High School, is a player with a lot of potential who was nominated by GS Caltex as the first overall pick in the 2020-21 rookie draft. Kim Ji-won is attracting attention as a setter who is good at using the center and knows how to use various set plays.
In his debut season, he only made 8 appearances due to injury. Kim Ji-won suffered an unexpected right ankle ligament rupture injury while training at the end of December 2020. Afterwards, Kim Ji-won played in 24 games in the 2021-22 season and 31 games in the 2022-23 season, hurting his position within the team. He added strength to the team with his best performance by entering whenever the national team setter Ahn Hye-jin was shaken. 안전놀이터
GS Caltex coach Cha Sang-hyun sent Lee Won-jeong, the second option setter in the team, to Heungkuk Life Insurance. That’s how strong the trust in Kim Ji-won was. In the future, he and Ahn Hye-jin were pinned as a lumber to lead the GS Caltex Se-Teo Jin.
Kim Ji-won said, “I never thought that I would be selected. He was so stunned and unreal that he was selected,” he said.
Then, he said, “I will do my best so that I will not be ashamed of being selected.”
Meanwhile, 16 people, including Kim Ji-won, will convene at the Jincheon National Training Center on the 24th to prepare for the 2023 VNL. On May 21st, they will depart for Turkiye Antalya, the venue for the first week, and will conduct field training for a week right before the opening of the tournament.