China-vs-USA
The United States broke China’s brutal nine-game winning streak in the 2019 VNL by beating them in front of their crowd in Jiangmen in straight sets, partially 25-17, 25-22, 25-21.
In the 71st mutual encounter (most played fixture at major world level tournaments) between these two sides, China made only 3 unforced errors (USA had 13 more) but annulled it with the poor attack.
For instance, China’s top scorer in the tournament Zhu Ting had 35.3% attack success rate (12/34) today and still finished the match as her team’s most effective player (13 points). Another example of China’s dull attack was Gong Xiangyu’s display (2/13; 15.4%). Michelle Bartsch-Hackley and Kelsey Robinson tallied 20 apiece for the USA.
Both China and the USA are at 9-3 and very close to securing a place in the Final Six already at the start of Week 5. The Americans have one point more than the current Olympic Games champions (27-26).
Turkey-vs-Poland
Turkey’s amazing 2019 VNL campaign was only briefly interrupted with a defeat to China, yesterday, as they made a beautiful turnaround from 0-2 to 3-2 against Poland on Day 3 in Pool 16.
In the first hour of the match, Poland’s players were on a high level against the favorites but wasted a 2-0 sets lead.
A 19-year-old Ebrar Karakurt shone for Turkey, who are at the top of the Preliminary Round charts (10-2, 29 points), with 30 points – including 5 aces. Magdalena Stysiak scored 17 for Poland (7-5; 21 points), while Julia Nowicka added 5 aces and Kamila Witkowska 4 kill blocks.
2019 FIVB Women’s Volleyball Nations League, Week 4 – Day 3:
Pool 13 (Perugia, Italy):
South Korea – Bulgaria, 17:00 C.E.T.
Italy – Russia 20:00 C.E.T.
Pool 14 (Stuttgart, Germany):
Belgium – Dominican Republic, 17:30 C.E.T.
Germany – Netherlands, 17:30 C.E.T.
Pool 15 (Tokyo, Japan):
Brazil – Serbia 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-15)
Japan – Thailand 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-14)
Pool 16 (Jiangmen, China):
Turkey – Poland 3-2 (22-25, 18-25, 25-16, 25-20, 15-12)
China – USA 0-3 (17-25, 22-25, 21-25)