The Chinese women's volleyball team notched a comeback win over archrivals Team USA in a five-set thriller, 18-25, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 15-8, to conclude all their games at the FIVB Volleyball Women's Nations League (VNL) in Suwon, South Korea, on Sunday.

The American players started off better in both defense and attack, and dominated the first set. The Chinese players, however, improved their blocks and defense in the second set and fought back thanks to opponent errors.

China caught up with the U.S. team in a tight race in the third set but surrendered it due to unstable performances.

The three-time Olympic champions led the fourth set 4-0, forcing the U.S. to call timeout. Both sides fought relentlessly, but China did not give their opponents any further openings and went on to win the match.

Outside spiker Li Yingying said after the match, "We've prepared for difficulties during the game because Team USA rank first in the world, and we know they are a tough rival. But I regarded them as a rival for me to learn from, so I was really happy and relaxed during the game, and really enjoyed it."

She also said the victory would definitely boost the team's morale: "It is an important win, because we had just suffered four consecutive losses recently. I believe we will do better in the Finals after the lessons we've learnt and with better coordination."

Li amassed a match-high 28 points, while her teammates Yuan Xinyue, Gong Xiangyu and Wang Yunlu each contributed double-digit scores to secure the win.

In other matches, Serbia narrowly defeated Bulgaria 3-2 (20-25, 25-16, 25-14, 17-25, 15-4), and Poland cleanly swept the winless hosts, South Korea, in straight sets (25-23, 25-18, 25-16).

China finished the three-leg event with eight wins and four losses and secured a spot in the VNL Finals, which will take place in Arlington, Texas, United States, from July 12 to 16.

The other teams are USA, Poland, Turkey, Brazil, Germany, Japan and defending champions Italy.

(With input from Xinhua)