(Asiad) S. Korea secures 1st place in Pool D in women's volleyball

NAGOYA, Japan, Sept. 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea defeated Vietnam on Friday in the final women's volleyball preliminary match at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games to secure the top position in Pool D.

The team won the match 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 26-28, 25-18) at Park Arena Komaki, just north of Nagoya, Japan.

South Korea topped Pool D with three wins, while Vietnam finished second with two wins and one loss. Both teams had already taken berths in the quarterfinals.

South Korea will play against Kazakhstan, the runner-up in Pool B behind China, in the eight-team knockout stage starting Sunday.

The South Koreans finished with advantages of 101-88 in attack, with a 9-6 lead from the service line.

The first set was a seesaw battle until South Korea fell behind 19-18. But setter Kim Da-in's two straight service winners helped the team regain the lead and induced some errors from Vietnam, allowing South Korea to close out the set 25-21.

In the second set, South Korea extended an early 6-1 lead with diversified offensive plays, including a block by middle blocker Na Hyun-soo and an ace by Lee Da-hyeon.

Entering the latter part of the set, South Korea allowed Vietnam to level the score but did not relinquish the lead, completing the set 25-21.

South Korea led the third set from the beginning on quick sets to its middle blockers, but Vietnam tightened its defense to take a 15-14 lead and extend the gap to 20-17.

Lee Da-hyeon's quick attack and two aces by Kim Da-in helped South Korea level the score at 20-20, while Park Eun-jin's block forced a deuce. With the score deadlocked at 26-26, Vietnam scored the next two points to take the set 28-26.

South Korea built a 17-12 lead in the fourth set behind outside hitter Yuk Seo-young's spikes and Lee Da-hyeon's quick attacks. Kang So-hwi's kills and Lee Da-hyeon's block helped South Korea close out the set 25-18.