NANJING, June 29 -- World No. 1 China battled tightly against strong Brazil in Volleyball Nations League finals on Friday but met a 25-20, 25-22, 25-22 defeat.
The packed stadium pumped with expectation of a China win but Brazil's star Tandara Caixeta maintained her mojo with her match-leading 19 points, including 16 kills from 40 attempts. Wing spiker Gabriela Guimaraes also stood out and contributed 14 points, which were all kills.
Despite another major boost from superstar Zhu Ting, who finished with 13 points that included 12 spikes and middle blocker Yuan Xinyue's eight points, China could not put their opponents under sustained pressure.
"They attacked effectively and we did not keep up with their rhythm. We learned a lot from team Brazil after all," said China's head coach Lang Ping.
Although China has already advanced to the semifinals regardless of tonight's result, the up-and-down made their road harder as they will confront reigning world champions USA.
"Tomorrow's game against USA will be tougher, but we will also take it as an opportunity to improve ourselves," Lang said.
The semifinal line-ups on Saturday will see Brazil versus Turkey, followed by China against USA.