Cuba beat China 3-1 at the Macao leg of the 2007 women's
volleyball Grand Prix in Macao on Sunday.
The 20-year-old young talent Xu Yunli returned to China's
starting line-up, adding fresh power to the team's attack
force.
The Cubans, however, dominated the net and managed to survive a
22-24 groom to clinch the first set by 26-24.
Both sides displayed desperation to win the match and the
Chinese took advantage of several mistakes made by the opponents to
win the second set by 25-23.
Cuba regained their pace in the third set to win by 25-22 and
China's rookie spiker Sun Xiaoqing failed to bring the victory hope
for the team when she stayed in the line-up for most of the fourth
set.
The Cubans won the fourth set by 25-20 to seal the victory.
The Netherlands beat the United States 3-1 earlier in the day to
grasp the title of the Macao leg with a three-match winning
streak.
China, Cuba and the US ranked the second to the fourth place at
the leg by counting the score difference.
(Xinhua News Agency August 20, 2007)