?Zhu Ting (L) of China spikes during the Pool F match against Azerbaijan at the 2018 Volleyball Women's World Championship in Osaka, Japan, Oct. 8, 2018. China won 3-0. (Xinhua/Du Xiaoyi)
OSAKA, Japan, Oct. 8 (Xinhua) -- China hammered Azerbaijan in straight sets here Monday in their second Pool F match at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship.
The scores of the three sets were 25-17, 25-16, 25-17, respectively.
China's blocker Yuan Xinyue scored 17 points to lead the game, followed by Gong Xiangyu and star spiker Zhu Ting with 13 and 11 points respectively.
China and Azerbaijan previously had four encounters at world-level championships, with China winning all of them, including trouncing Azerbaijan in straight sets in the 2014 tournament.
The first set was a see-saw one at the beginning, but in the later half of the set, with Yuan's serves, China scored a string of five straight points to expand the margin 23-16, and then settled the set 25-17.
In the second set, China built an early lead 7-2, and though Azerbaijan managed to narrow the gap to trail 14-16, China, with superb spikes by Zhu and Zhang Changning, sealed the victory 25-16.
In the third set, Azerbaijan fought back hard and were leading for a while, but China soon turned the tide to lead 12-10 and then further expand the advantage to win 25-17.
"We were very focused and served better today, and Azerbaijan didn't adjust well in face of our serves," said China coach Lang Ping after the game.
China will play the United States and Russia in the following two games. "We are prepared for the hardest situation, and are going to grab every point as we can," said Lang.
