Vi Thị Như Quỳnh suffered a heavy defeat in her debut match for the Indonesian club

This outcome was not very surprising as Như Quỳnh and her Medan Falcons teammates had to face the reigning runners-up of the Indonesian National Volleyball League in the season opener.

Vi Thị Như Quỳnh and her Medan Falcons teammates were defeated in their opening match of the 2026 Indonesian Women's National Volleyball Championship after a 0-3 loss (20-25; 19-25; 14-25) against Jakarta Popsivo Polwan on the afternoon of January 8th, Vietnam time.

This loss was anticipated since Jakarta Popsivo Polwan are the current runners-up of the Indonesian National Volleyball League, featuring two world-class foreign players from the Dominican Republic. Meanwhile, Medan Falcons were considered the weakest team last season with a record of all losses.

The difference became evident from the very first points. Jakarta Popsivo Polwan took a 6-2 lead, were caught at 7-7, but quickly regained the advantage, maintaining a 3-5 point gap over Medan Falcons to close the first set with a 25-20 win.

Medan Falcons showed more resilience in the second set, with efforts from Vi Thị Như Quỳnh and her teammates keeping the game close until the final sprint. From an 18-18 tie, Falcons allowed the opponent to score 6 consecutive points, reaching set point and only saving one of those points.

The third set saw near-total dominance by the capital’s team; Medan Falcons had a poor start, which the opponent fully exploited to secure a straight-set victory in their first match of the new season.

Although official statistics are not yet available, Vi Thị Như Quỳnh scored over 10 points in this match. To help Medan Falcons achieve a win—which the team failed to do last season—the main attacker from Nghệ An will definitely need to put in much more effort.

In the next match scheduled at 16:00 on January 10th, Medan Falcons will face Gresik Petrokimia Pupuk—the club that Trần Thị Thanh Thúy played for at the start of 2025.