NANJING, June 6 (Xinhua) -- China swept Serbia 3-0 here on Saturday for its second victory in the 2026 women's Volleyball Nations League (VNL).
The Chinese women, who had recorded a 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic and a 3-2 win over Thailand on Wednesday and Thursday, stunned the Serbians 25-21, 25-21 and 25-21.
"We didn't play well in the last two games; we lacked confidence. But today, we had a better mentality, and that was the key to our victory," said middle blocker Wang Aoqian, who scored 14 points for China.
Zhuang Yushan and Tang Xin added 14 points apiece as China improved to a 2-1 win-loss record.
China head coach Zhao Yong echoed Wang. He said: "The change in mentality is the key, today our players had a clear mind throughout the game. Hopefully, we can play like this for the rest of the VNL."
Falling behind 8-3 early in the first set, the Chinese women steadily pulled it back at 13-all. After Serbia went ahead again at 18-15, China staged a 10-3 run to clinch the opener.
The Chinese women continued its momentum in the second set, jumping for a 7-4 lead and improving to 15-9 through consecutive kills of Gong Xiangyu. Serbia answered with a 7-1 burst to force a 16-all tie and went on to overtake the lead at 20-19, but Wang converted on three blitz attacks in a row and Zhuang added a kill to make it 23-20 in favor of China. Serbia pulled within 23-21, only to find Wang's smash and Zhang Zixuan's block help China seal the set at 25-21.
Serbia managed to take a 13-10 lead in the third set, but China ran off four points in a row to overtake the lead at 14-13 and went on to wrap the set at 25-21 again.
"First of all, I would like to congratulate the Chinese team," said Serbia head coach Zoran Terzic. "They played much better than in the last two games, and we helped them a lot. Especially our service wasn't good, and China had no problem with their reception. When China plays with good reception, it's practically impossible to compete against them because they have very strong players, middle blockers, and setters. Their connection is excellent."
"Unfortunately, we have some minor injury issues and had to stress some players, but I hope tomorrow will be better," he added.
Earlier on Saturday, Belgium beat Thailand in five sets.
China will take on Poland, who have won three games in a row, on Sunday.
