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China snap USA's 14-game winning streak in women's VNL(Xinhua) 13:42, June 21, 2021
China's women's volleyball team celebrates scoring during the game against the United States in the preliminary round at the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League in Rimini, Italy, June 20, 2021. (Xinhua)
China swept the United States 3-0 to finish their Volleyball Nations League journey with seven wins in a row.
RIMINI, Italy, June 20 (Xinhua) -- China swept the United States 3-0 here on Sunday to snap the 14-game winning streak of the American women in the Volleyball Nations League.
Despite their only loss in 15 tries, the American women advanced into the semifinals as the top finishers from the 16-team round-robin preliminaries while the Chinese women were eliminated after settling down with a 10-5 win-loss record.
China eased past the United States 25-10, 25-20 and 25-17 to end their VNL journey with seven wins in a row, finishing in fifth place behind Brazil, Japan and Turkey.
Zhu Ting of China serves during the match. (Xinhua)
Zhu Ting led China with 16 points, Zhang Changning scored 13 with Yan Ni and Gong Xiangyu adding 12 apiece. The Chinese women outblocked their American opponents 9-4 and recorded seven aces, compared to only one for the United States.
"Today we won this battle against the USA, although it was our last game at the VNL. We enjoyed a high-level performance today and we are really happy about it," said Chinese setter Ding Xia. "I think that in this game every player improved and therefore we won this match by team effort."
Yan Ni (L) of China blocks during the match. (Xinhua)
"It's a really disappointing loss. China had their A-team there, they are a very strong team. I think it's always good for us to be pushed, it's always good to face some difficulties, I'm hoping that we can reflect on this and we will come stronger next time," said Foluke Akinradewo, who had seven points for the United States. "A lot of lessons to be learned from this game, but the biggest is focusing on our side."
The United States will play Turkey in Thursday's semifinals where Brazil face Japan.
(Web editor: Shi Xi, Liang Jun)
