China beat Russia for 2nd win in a row

[Mr. Owl]

I'm always reading goolgle groups and found this, its a good read. The key is that a chinese paper listed volleyball which is rare.

China beat Russia for 2nd win in a row
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-05-28 09:22

Russia stole one set from China before going down 3-1 to the Olympic champions at the International Women's Volleyball Tournament in China's second largest port Beilun.

Playing without all its big names, the inexperienced Russian team erased a 20-15 deficit in the third set to level it at 24-all. Then Yulia Merkulova had an ace and Lesya Maknno had a kill to level one set back for Russia.

"We are very happy to win one set against the Olympic champion.

We have got a young team here and most of the players are playing for the national team for the first time," said Russia's Italian head coach Caprara Giovanni. "I think this set win will boost us to do better in our future training."

In the fourth set, Russia withstood four match points to pull within 24-19, but Xu Yunli smashed a ball home to seal China's second win in two days.

"Russia is a very young team and their players were very relaxed on the court. Comparatively speaking, our young players appeared to be more anxious," said China head coach Chen Zhonghe.

"It seems the players have worries and can not have 100 percent concentration on the game."

Currently there are a total of 15 players in the Chinese side out of which only 12 can make the final roster for the World

Championship slated for November in Japan.

"Our team did not play to my expectations. Most players did not display their abilities they showed in training," Chen added. "We were not playing like a team. We made many mistakes in attack and were not stable in receiving. After the first two matches of the tournament, I think we have a lot to improve."

It was the first encounter of the Olympic gold and silver medallists since the thrilling five-set final at the Athens Games.

However, Russia was playing with a whole new team with its star players having after-season vacations at home.

China jumped to a 14-6 lead in the first set. After the Russian women steadily pulled within 19-18, China ran off six of the last seven points to take the opener 25-19.

Xu Yunli, 18, who on Friday scorer a team high 18 points for China in a five-set victory over the Netherlands in her international debut, continued to impress as she had two blocks and a dink to give China a 5-2 advantage in the second set.

After China extended their lead to 22-16, the 1.96-meter Xu had two more blocks to help the host secure the second set 25-17 and a 2-0 lead after two sets.

Xu finished with 12 points while Wang Yimei led China with 21 points.

China and Cuba, who have both had two wins against no loss after two rounds of the four-team round-robin tournament, will¡¡clash on Sunday for the title.


For the full article click here:
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/sports/...ent_601899.htm