China swept reigning champions the United States 25-17, 26-24, 25-18 in Osaka on Wednesday to book a ticket to the third round of the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.
Amid loud cheers from spectators at the Osaka Municipal Central Gymnasium, the world's top-ranked team hammered their opponents in straight sets. Captain Zhu Ting led her team with 19 points, including 17 spikes, while Gong Xiangyu and Yan Ni also racked up double-digit scores. The United States only had one player who could achieve a double digit points tally.
China and the United States previously had seven encounters at the World Championships, with China losing four, including a 3-1 loss to the United States in the final of the 2014 tournament. But China was on fire on Wednesday and remained dominant throughout the match. They built an early lead 3-0 in the first set and entered the first technical time-out with the score at 8-4.
Though the United States managed to narrow the gap to trail 15-17, China, scoring a series of straight points when Ding Xia was server, settled the set 25-17. In the second set, China continued to dominate, but the United States managed to first level the score 21-21, and then save a set point to tie 24-24.
Then after a spectacular spike by Yan Ni, Jordan Larson fired wide to hand China the set at 26-24. The desperate United States failed to turn the tide in the third set, and China entered the second technical timeout with the score at 16-11 and eventually sealed the set and victory 25-18.
It was also the first loss for the United Sates at the tournament this year after seven straight wins. "It was a really important game, and our players were very focused today. They didn't think of the results but just focused on playing the game," said China's coach Lang Ping after the game. "We were not firm enough in the game against Italy. We are learning from the previous games and we are trying to do better."
China will play Russia on Thursday in their last Pool F game. With seven wins and one loss, China now rank second in Pool F and have secured a ticket to the third round of the tournament.
