China Clinches WGCC Gold, USA to Battle for Silver. Day 4 Recap (Vids)

2017 WORLD GRAND CHAMPIONS CUP – WOMEN’S

• September 5-9
• Nagoya and Osaka, Japan
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China’s dominance on the volleyball world showed once again with today’s win against Russia, which clinched them the round robin tournament gold medal with still one match left to play. Brazil and Team USA will go head to head in the upcoming next round to decide who will take home the silver medal. Below, you’ll find updated standings, FIVB recaps and videos from all of the day’s action.

		Matches		Pts	Sets			Points
Rank	Team	W	L		W	L	Ratio	W	L	Ratio
1	China	4	0	11	12	3	4.000	355	261	1.360
2	United States	3	1	7	10	7	1.429	369	359	1.028
3	Brazil	2	2	8	10	7	1.429	363	343	1.058
4	Japan	2	2	6	9	8	1.125	380	372	1.022
5	Russia	1	3	4	6	10	0.600	336	371	0.906
6	South Korea	0	4	0	0	12	0.000	204	301	0.678

China x Russia

Zhang Changning had 16 points to help China defeat Russia 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-20). Zhang had 14 attacks, a block and an ace. Zeng Chunlei, Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue acted as Zhang’s support crew, as they combined for 33 points to secure China’s straight-set win. Kseniia Parubets led Russia with 11 points.

China marked the 100th match of the World Grand Champions Cup with a straight-set win – their second in the 2017 edition. They are still unbeaten after four matches.  USA x Japan five setter ensured China’s title.

Russia were strong-willed and tied the score at 19-all, but China outpaced them and scored the next five points before an exchange of spikes closed the opening set at 25-20. Kosheleva tried to keep Russia going in the second set, but China had better outputs from Zeng and Zhang to win again at 25-18. China played with great consistency throughout the match, which helped them complete the sweep.

Here are the post match reactions:

Chinese coach An Jiajie: I’m happy with the win today. Russia are a very strong team, so we prepared well for this match. They played all-out volleyball and used some of their younger players. I thought we were flexible with our blocking and reception and also were aggressive with our serve. We still have some shortcomings but these are things we will sort out. In this competition, we play a different kind of team every day, so depending on the opposition we see different faults within our own game. We would like to be a more balanced team.

Chinese captain Zhu Ting: Today, our blocking and reception were good and as an attacking player I did my best. There are still teams better than us out there and we want to learn from them and become a better team, and I want to learn from the many great players in China and become a better player myself.

Russian coach Vladimir Kuziutkin: As coach, I have been watching all the games, including those of China, and I am reminded that China is the best prepared team for this tournament. All the Chinese players have great talent and I was grateful today that they fielded a strong team. We used players who hadn’t played before and we fought hard. The younger players got good experience from today’s game but they are not yet good enough to compete against a team like China. Following the Olympics last year, we are now preparing for the World Championship, but to win such a competition you must have experienced players and two or three young players. So, we’re trying to give our younger players experience so they can grow.

Russian captain Ekaterina Kosianenko: We got off to a good start in the match and as a team we were raring to go but unfortunately we couldn’t win. Today, we used players who hadn’t been able to play so far. The whole team were up for this challenge but the result was very disappointing. China is very well organised as a team. This is possible because of their good serve reception, which enables the setter to set up good attacks.

Brazil x Korea

Tandara Caixeta led with 19 points to guide Brazil to a 3-0 (25-15, 25-10, 25-23) win over Korea. Tandara had an all-around game with 13 attacks, three blocks and three aces to lead the Brazilian double-digit scorers. Rosamaria Montibeller, Natalia Pereira and Ana Carolina da Silva scored 15, 11 and 10 points, respectively. Lee Jaeyong made a solo effort for Korea with 16 points.

Brazil recovered from two consecutive five-set defeats to China and Japan at the World Grand Champions Cup. Brazil are unbeaten and have not dropped a set in their head-to-head series with Korea in the competition.

Tandara and Rosamaria teamed-up to dominate Korea in the first set. Korea so much on defense in the second set, as the Brazilians relentlessly scored from all angles. The Asian side fought hard and were rewarded with the lead, but Brazil sparked a final run that secured the straight set victory.

Here are the post match reactions

Brazilian coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes: Today, we showed good attitude as a team. Korea is an Asian team and have excellent attacking capabilities, especially the technique to deliver the ball in good places. We prepared very well and performed well against them. We passed the ball well and our counter-attack and service were good, so I’m satisfied with the result. Scoring blocking points has been a fundamental source of points for Brazilian volleyball and it’s certainly been true this season, in this competition and in training. But in the two matches we played against Japan this year, we were not able to do that so much.

Brazilian captain Natalia Pereira: Today, we got off to a better start than yesterday and we had better concentration. But in the third set, we allowed them to score many points and in the remaining match we must be more careful. However, we won today and I’d like to praise my team.

Korean coach Hong Sungjin: Our players are still trying to figure out how to play against tall players. In the Korean domestic competition, they usually play against shorter players as compared to this competition. But they are starting to understand and in the third set our spiking became more diversified and our players were starting to hit in different directions.

Korean captain Kim Su Ji: In the first and second sets, we were a bit down but the younger players didn’t give up and just tried to score point by point and that was good to see.

Team USA x Japan

Andrea Drews delivered a strong performance to guide USA to win 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 26-28, 25-21, 15-12) over hosts Japan. Drews scored 22 points, including 19 attacks and three blocks, while seasoned players Jordan Larson and Kimberly Hill helped out with 18 and 17 points, respectively. Mami Uchiseto and Yurie Nabeya made 17 and 15 points on a losing effort. The NORCECA side had 17 blocks that caused trouble for the Japanese attackers in the crucial moments of the match.

USA have a three-match winning streak in the 2017 edition and are on a streak in their last four five-set matches at the World Grand Champions Cup. In all these fixtures, they have started the match by losing the first set.

After Japan scored in spurts, Drews’ responded with solid swings from the flank. However, Japan still closed the set at 25-22. USA retaliated with a set-win, and then Japan answered back with a win as they demolished USA’s 26-5 lead with three straight blocks. USA endured the tough rallies against their rivals but managed to close the fourth and final sets in their favor.

Here are the post match reactions:

USA captain Carli Lloyd: We’re very, very happy with this win. Our opponents are an amazing team and played a great match. I’m proud of our patience and it took a lot of patience with long rallies and a lot of problem solving to win this one. I think it’s a wonderful experience to be in a gym with such positive energy and you can tell all the fans just love volleyball. I was just grateful to be there because this doesn’t happen all the time. And the spirit of that team across the net and how they just don’t give up and have such a long tradition of volleyball and being a part of all that was very special for us.

USA coach Karch Kiraly: We love playing Japan in Japan. It is a tremendous volleyball atmosphere and very few things are like that on the planet, so it’s always an honour to play in a match like this against a team with such an incredible fighting spirit. But I’m also proud of our fighting spirit. I knew it would take a lot and some smart play to beat a very fine team. It was a battle and really hard-fought, and those are great matches.

Japanese coach Kumi Nakada: Being able to take the match to full sets was good but the Americans always had the ability to respond to us and contain us. The way we scored was kind of desperate really. We were always under pressure. We got to five sets but only just. When playing against top teams, we see they always respond to what we’re doing very quickly, while we still haven’t managed to adjust to them after they’ve adjusted to us. This will only be possible through experience and playing in such big games before a big audience is the best way to help us grow as a team, so we shouldn’t waste this opportunity. My players are getting used to facing the world’s best first-hand and I want them to feel this on the court and make progress.

Japanese player Koyomi Tominaga: The Americans were tall and very powerful and their block was very good. They were also technically good and strong. We showed how we could play in the first set and I think we could have won the match. Some things worked well and that makes it even more regrettable that we didn’t win. The quality of my setting could have been better and that would have helped our attackers a lot. I failed to use the middle effectively and I think we could have been more proactive. Tomorrow, we play another team with high blocking but we shouldn’t be afraid of that.

Japanese player Mami Uchiseto: USA have great blocking but Japan’s speed and quick attack worked well. However, we couldn’t win and we need to refresh our minds before tomorrow’s match against another strong opponent.

Japanese player Yurie Nabeya: Today was a game we could have won, I think. There were many good aspects but many points where we should have scored but didn’t. I think my spiking was too easy for them. I could have made better angles and been more daring instead of hitting to the middle and giving them chances.