YOKOHAMA, Japan, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- China and the United States both were victorious here on Thursday at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Cup, leading the 12 participating teams halfway into the robin-robin tournament.
With five of its starting players scoring double-digits, China eased past host nation Japan 25-17, 25-10, 25-17 in a sold-out Yokohama arena to continue their road to title defense with a 5-0 record.
China demonstrated clear dominance on the net, outperforming Japan in blocks 14-2 with Gong Xiangyu contributing six alone. Zhang Changning had a game-high 19 points in China's 25-17, 25-10, 25-17 victory, five of which came from aces. Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue added 14 and 13 respectively. Risa Shinnabe had a team-high eight points.
"We had good performance in the five matches in Yokohama, showing on court what we had been practicing. I hope we can overcome our shortcomings and keep improving in the following matches," captain Zhu commented.
Yet to lose a single set, China sits firmly on top of the World Cup table, followed by the United States, who repeated its Nations League final victory over powerhouse Brazil 25-22, 25-18, 25-19 to keep its unbeaten record and level on points with China with an inferior set quotient.
Kelsey Robinson, with 15 points, was the most prolific player for the Nations League champions which had three more players scoring double-digits. Gabriela Braga Guimaraes and Drussyla Costa had 12 points apiece for the two-time Olympic champion Brazil.
"It was a great match for us. We managed to stay ahead for the entire match and kept pressing our offense. I think we put together a very nice match. Ultimately, we're just focusing on ourselves and how we can get better every day, and we just came in with that attitude, sticking together and everybody's ready to play," USA captain Jordan Larson said.
Earlier on Thursday, Serbia bounced back from 0-2 down to edge the Netherlands 3-2 in Hamamatsu. The 18-25, 23-25, 25-19, 26-24, 15-9 win also improved the world champions' record to 3-2 after the frustrating two losses at the very beginning of the World Cup.
Captain Ana Bjelica had an amazing 35 points, 13 from the third set when Serbia began to turn the table around. Lonneke Sloetjes was the top scorer for the Netherlands with 20 points.
"Today was a big win for our team in five sets against a very strong Netherlands team. I'm proud of our motivation to play although we were down 2-0. It was a big comeback for us and I think our strength will be decided in this match," Serbia coach Aleksandar Vladisavljev said.
Russia also had a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Dominican Republic as the 2015 European champions managed to resist the counterattacks by the opponent to clinch the victory 25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 23-25, 15-5. Nataliya Goncharova and Kseniia Parubets showcased Russia's attacking prowess with 26 and 22 points respectively. Bethania De La Cruz had a game-high 27 points in vain for the Caribbean side.
Elsewhere, Argentina finally had their first win at the World Cup, fending off Kenya 25-14, 25-19, 25-15. South Korea beat Cameroon 25-21, 21-18, 21-18 to wrap up their matches in Yokohama with a 2-3 record.
"We did not achieve the targeted wins in the Yokohama round, and we hope to show better performance next round," captain Kim Yeon-koung said.
The World Cup will have a two-day break before moving to Sapporo and Toyama on Sunday.
