She has a good personality and is like a catbell.”
The Korea Expressway Corporation, led by coach Kim Jong-min, did not renew the contract with Tanacha Ssuksot (registered name: Tanacha), which played in the Asia Quarter last season. Although he represents the Thai national team, he has had many ups and downs. He appeared in 36 games but scored only 365 points. This is a disappointing figure even considering that he played as an outside hitter rather than the main position of aposite spiker.
Coach Kim Jong-min, who obtained the 3rd overall pick in the 2024 Korea Volleyball Federation (KOVO) Women's Volleyball Asia Quarter Draft held on the 1st, selected Robles Bautista from Uniesca, who has dual citizenship of Cuba and Kazakhstan, as a non-Asia quota player to join next season. It was so well-received that the team he picked first in his preliminary preference survey.
Batista played in the Cuban league, Kazakhstan, Greece, Poland, and Israel, and played in the Turkye League last season. He has a good height of 191cm and also has punching power. He can play as both an outside hitter and an aggressive spiker.
He was selected as a partner for Kang So-hwi, who will play for the Road Corporation starting next season.
Coach Kim said, “If we were ranked last, we would have been Batista. He seems to have a good personality. “It’s like a cat bell,” he said. “But the receiving seemed to be lacking. I feel like I need training to wear my team colors. Still, he can handle both aposite and outside hitters, and he didn't look bad when watching the video. He said, “I will stand in opposition to Kang So-hwi.”
He continued, “When I watched the Turkye League, it seemed like they were hitting the ball with technique rather than attacking runs. “I think it has power,” he added.
Bautista, who said he has high expectations for living in Korea, said, “I am grateful that the Korea Expressway Corporation nominated me and I have high expectations. I will prepare well. I don’t think I could show 100% when I came to Jeju Island. “There was a 13-hour time difference,” he said. “I will join the team training and show a good performance.” It's an exciting situation right now. “I will prepare well,” he said.
Regarding the background to having dual citizenship in Cuba and Kazakhstan, he said, “It was politically difficult for a Cuban player to play volleyball,” and “But Kazakhstan gave me the opportunity to play volleyball and I met my husband. “He was able to play for the Kazakh national team,” he explained.
As Kang So-hwi's partner next season, he should show better performance than Tanacha, who had a lot of ups and downs last season. Can Batista show his best performance in the V-League?