Oh Se-yeon's growth is scary.
GS Caltex, led by head coach Lee Young-taek, has been struggling this season. Ahead of the start of the season, Kang So-hwi (Korea Expressway Corporation) and Han Ha-hye (Pepper Savings Bank) left the team, and Han Su-ji and Jung Dae-young announced their retirements. After the start of the season, the team struggled due to large and small injuries to players that it had hoped for, and Stephanie Wyler (registered name: Wyler) from Australia was out for the season due to ruptured Achilles tendon. GS Caltex once had a hard time losing 14 consecutive games.
However, she is not hopeless. She confirmed the performance of the rising star despite tough times. It is Oh Se-yeon. Oh is playing as a key middle blocker for GS Caltex this season. She started all 22 games that her team played. She has 140 points in 22 games.
Blocking is one of the highlights. Oh has posted 68 blockings (0.79 per set) this season. She has already surpassed 25 (0.385) in the 2022-2023 season and 37 (0.451) in the 2023-2024 season. She is the second-ranked blocker after Lee Da-hyun (0.902) who is a middle blocker for the Korean national team. The figure is also higher than Yang Hyo-jin (0.73), and Jeong Kwan-jang (0.69). On Nov. 6, 2024, she recorded the most seven blockings in an individual game.
Coach Lee Young-taek told a reporter on the phone on Tuesday, "Through off-season training, I have improved my blocking movement steps. I also think I am having fun as I have caught a lot of blockings."
Oh did not receive much attention at the time of her nomination. She joined GS Caltex as the sixth player in the second round of the 2020 Rookie Draft. At 180 centimeters, a middle blocker is not tall. She has long arms compared to her height, but she still had some regrets about her height as a middle blocker. She did not play in a single game during her debut season and scored only two points in two games during the 2021-2022 season.
However, he did not neglect his training. "I worked hard during the training. He deserves compliments," Cha Sang-hyun, the former coach of GS Caltex, admitted. As he was criticized for lacking basic skills due to his short pitching ability, he did his best to make up for his weaknesses. As a result, he scored 62 points in 26 matches in the 2022-2023 season, and succeeded in scoring 117 to 100 points over 32 in the last season. And he has been showing even greater growth this season.
Since taking the helm of GS Caltex, Lee has spent more time fostering middle blockers than any other position. He encouraged Jung Ho-young, who was struggling due to wandering positions while serving as head coach of KGC Ginseng Corporation (currently Jeong Kwan-jang), to change into a middle blocker, and elevated Park's skills to a next level. When serving as chief coach of IBK Industrial Bank, Lee added strength to skills development of Choi Jeong-min (IBK Industrial Bank), Lim Hye-rim (Heungkuk Life Insurance) and Kim Hyun-jung (Korea Expressway Corporation). GS Caltex has brought in Lee to strengthen its middle blocker line in the long term.
He is not a perfect player yet. "Details such as the ability to run a game need to be refined," manager Lee Young-taek said. Given that he is more likely to draw growth, Oh Se-yeon could have a bigger presence. 스포츠토토
Let's look forward to the performance of Oh Se-yeon, who is more expected in the future, and Oh Se-yeon, who will protect the center of GS Caltex more firmly.