The Netherlands juggernaut kept rolling yesterday with a 3-2
triumph over Olympic and World Cup dual champions China to book a
berth in the top eight of the 2006 Women's Volleyball World
Championships.
With this victory, the Netherlands ranked third in their group
accompanied by China, who ranking fourth, also advanced to the top
eight.
Losing the first two sets, the Netherlands, who kept a five-win
three-loss record in the tournament, played their best volleyball
to beat China 21-25, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 15-12.
Chaine Staelens led the game with 28 points for the Netherlands,
while Manon Flier and captain Ingrid Visser added 20 and 17
respectively.
Losing the first two sets and falling behind 17-19 in the third,
the Netherlands rallied and launched a brilliant scoring trend with
a 6-1 run to lead the game and snatched one set back 25-23.
Level 5-5 in the fourth set, the Netherlands had a 4-1 run to
take control. After Li Shan of China had a fast-breaking attack to
make it 21-21, the Netherlands concluded the set with a 4-1 run and
Staelens scored the set point with a spike for the Netherlands with
25-22.
The match seemed frustrating for the Chinese, who squandered
early leads, and cut their deficit to 12-all in the deciding fifth
set before a kill from Staelens closed out the match.
(Xinhua News Agency?November 13, 2006)
