South Korea completes Pool A sweep with five-set thriller over Chinese Taipei

South Korea survived a fierce challenge from Chinese Taipei, winning a hard-fought five-set thriller, 25-19, 19-25, 27-25, 21-25, 15-12, on Friday at the Candon City Arena to finish the preliminary round undefeated and claim the top seed in Pool A of the 2026 AVC Women’s Volleyball Cup.

The victory gave South Korea a perfect 5-0 record, while Chinese Taipei placed second in the pool with a 4-1 slate.

Both teams advance to the crossover semifinals. South Korea will face Pool B’s second seed and defending champion Vietnam, while Chinese Taipei takes on Pool B top seed Kazakhstan for a spot in the final.

The match was tightly contested until the end. Chinese Taipei mounted a late rally in the fifth set, cutting a 13-9 deficit to 13-12, but South Korea steadied themselves. Lee Ye-rim delivered a crucial cross-court attack, and Jeong Yun-ju sealed the win with a decisive block on Zhen-Xuan Xu.

Team captain Kang So-hwi led South Korea with a match-high 28 points (21 attacks, 7 blocks). Lee added 13 points, and Na Hyun-soo contributed 12.

For Chinese Taipei, Xu paced the attack with 20 points, while Tzu-Hua Wu added 18 in a valiant effort.

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In Pool B, **Indonesia** secured third place and a berth in the fifth-place playoff after a straight-sets victory over Lebanon, 25-20, 25-13, 25-9. Azzahra Gendis and Syelomitha Wongkar each scored 11 points as Indonesia finished with a 3-2 record. Lebanon ended the group stage winless at 0-5.