Played in the V-League for the past two seasons and moved to the Polish League this season
At the professional volleyball men’s foreign player tryouts in Turkiye Istanbul in May last year, “molbang volleyball” (a form of volleyball in which offensive responsibilities are concentrated on foreign players) was a hot topic.
Former Hyundai Capital coach Choi Tae-woong said, “If you go to this team, you have to hit (spikes) 1,500 times, and if you go to that team, you have to hit 1,000 times. If you come to my team, you only need to hit it 500 times,” he joked.
It was a self-acknowledgement of the “mall volleyball” already rumored among foreign players looking to break into the V-League.
The V-League doesn’t have many domestic offensive players, so teams often rely on foreign players to carry the offense.
Some players testified that it was difficult to play this way.
Elisabeth Ine Varga (Hungarian: Elisabeth), who played for Pepper Savings Bank in the 2021-2022 season and KGC Ginseng Corporation (now Chungkwanjang) in the 2022-2023 season, opted to move to the Polish league this season instead of signing up for a V-League tryout.
“I hit so many balls in the Korean league that I don’t even remember how many I hit,” she told the league’s official website on Thursday (local time). “Anyway, I knew what my role was as a striker, and I always gave my best to the team,” she said.
Elizabeth was the No. 1 overall pick and finished the 2021-2022 season ranked sixth in scoring (598 points) and fourth in attacking success rate (41.45%) for her new team, Pepper Savings Bank.
The “mall volleyball” that Elizabeth called for in her interview came in the 2022-2023 season, the second season of the V-League.
At the time, Elizabeth had 1,015 points, almost 100 points ahead of second-place Leticia Moma Vasoco (née Moma – then of GS Caltex)’s 879 points.
She is only the third woman to reach 1,000 points in a season after Madeleine Montaño Caicedo (KGC-registered Montaño – 1,076 points) in 2011-2012 and Joyce (KGC – 1,091 points) in 2013-2014, and the second all-time in a single season.
In terms of offensive possession alone, Elizabeth was dominant.
From 35.71% with Pepper Savings Bank to 41.30% with KGC, Elizabeth’s offense percentage was the highest in the league.
The all-time leader in the women’s league is KGC Joyce’s 54.46% in the 2013-2014 season.
“In the V-League, teams are organized in such a way that one or two players do most of the offense,” explains Elisabeth. The Polish league, on the other hand, has a high percentage of attacks from the apogee spikers, but they are spread out among several players and attack in different ways.”
This season, Elisabeth’s attack share in the Polish League is 21.51%, half of what it was last season when she played in the V-League.
“I’m glad that I don’t feel that way here, unlike in Korea, where I was getting beaten up,” she added.