Chinese women's volleyball team beats Bulgaria

World
Europe

The Chinese women's national volleyball team beat Bulgaria 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-14, and 25-17) at the 2018 FIVB World Championship in Sapporo, Japan, on Wednesday night.

Ace spiker and team captain Zhu Ting nailed 21 points to secure the team's fourth straight win in Pool B.

Despite saving two set points, Bulgaria's offense was too much for China in the first frame, allowing the team to win the first set 22-25. However, China would spend the next three sets clawing back into the match.

In the second set, China established an 8-6 lead at the first technical timeout thanks to Chinese spikers' attacks and held a 16-12 advantage entering the second timeout. After Bulgaria evened the score 22-22, China pulled ahead to win the second set on a powerful spike by Zhu Ting, tying the match 1-1.

China maintained its offensive prowess with an 8-6 lead at the first technical timeout in the third set, and stretched it to a 16-12 lead by the second timeout. China would run away with the rest of the match, beating Bulgaria 25-14 before heading into the final set.

In the fourth set, the two sides went back and forth on the scoreboard, heading into the first break tied 8-8. Then after a seesaw period, China took a four-point lead via blocks and attacks with a score of 20-16. With a 24-16 match point, Chinese middle blocker Yuan Xinyue's smash led China to a 25-17 victory. China beat Bulgaria with the final score of 3-1.

China will compete against Italy on Thursday.