Players of Italy (bottom) celebrate after scoring in the Women's Volleyball Nations League game against China in south China's Macao Special Administrative Region, June 2, 2024. /CFP
China lost to Italy 23-25, 19-25 and 16-25 in their fourth match at the Women's Volleyball Nations League 2024 Macao in south China's Macao Special Administrative Region on Sunday, finishing the competition with two wins and two losses.
Italy attacked with remarkable aggression from the first set with their serves and built an early lead. However, their offense lacked consistency and China made good use of that to cut the deficit point by point until they led 17-16. After the first set reached a 23-23 draw, Italy scored two straight to points to clinch it and led 1-0 in the match.
China carried on their good attacking form in the second set, but couldn't stop Italy from scoring. Italy's opposite spiker, Paola Ogechi Egonu, again showed dominance by claiming straight points at the end of the set, extending her side's lead to 2-0.
Yuan Xinyue (R) of China competes in the Women's Volleyball Nations League game against Italy in south China's Macao Special Administrative Region, June 2, 2024. /CFP
Italy's attacking firepower continued to spread in the third set, which interrupted the pace of Chinese players who failed to set up effective defense. After losing this set and the match, China dropped to seventh place on the International Volleyball Federation's world ranking table.
China will travel to south China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for the next round of the Nationals League between June 11 and 16. They will face Bulgaria, Türkiye, Germany and Poland.