NINGBO, China, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- Serbia overcame the Czech Republic 3-1 here on Wednesday for their fourth straight win in Pool A of the 2024 Paris Olympics women's volleyball qualifiers, while hosts China suffered their first loss in four tries against Canada.
Tijana Boskovic scored 30 points on 25 kills, four blocks and an ace to lead Serbia to a 25-20, 25-22, 30-32, 25-20 victory.
Maja Aleksic had 16 points, and Bianka Busa and Sara Lozo added 12 apiece as Serbia improved to 4-0 while the Czech Republic slipped to 1-3.
The Chinese women twice rallied from one set down to force a tie-breaker where they jumped to a 6-1 lead, but Canada answered with a 6-1 burst to tie it at 7-7 before running off four of the last five points to wrap up the match 28-26, 15-25, 25-23, 22-25, 17-15.
"We tried our best and fought until the end, but they had better mentality than us in the tie-breaker," said China coach Cai Bin. "Despite the loss, our target (to earn an Olympic berth) remains the same. We will play game by game in the rest of the tournament."
Kiera van Ryk notched 26 points, and Alexa Gray and Emily Maglio added 24 and 20 respectively as Canada improved to two wins against two losses.
Also on Wednesday, the Netherlands swept Ukraine 25-23, 25-21, 25-16 for their third win in four games, and the Dominican Republic also improved to 3-1 with a 25-17, 27-25, 25-16 victory against Mexico.
Eight teams are playing a single round-robin in Pool A with the top two finishers to qualify for Paris 2024.
