CHICAGO, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The world's 22nd-ranked Chinese men's volleyball team lost 3-2 to sixth-ranked United States in their opening match of the 2025 Volleyball Men's Nations League (VNL) Chicago leg on Wednesday.
The two teams battled through five intense sets, with China ultimately falling 25-22, 21-25, 19-25, 25-16, 15-11.
The U.S. maintained a lead throughout the first set. Although China remained close on the scoreboard, it was ultimately outperformed by the hosts.
After dropping the opening set, China's Belgian head coach Vital Heynen made swift adjustments, inserting team captain Jiang Chuan as the opposite hitter. With improved serve aggression and tighter blocking coordination, China disrupted the U.S. rhythm and claimed the second and third sets.
In the fourth set, the U.S. team responded with heightened offense and defense, registering four service aces and repeatedly breaking China's first pass.
In the deciding fifth set, the Americans showed greater composure under pressure, jumping to a 5-1 lead. China closed the gap to 9-11, but the U.S. sealed the win through a counterattack spike by Kyle Ensing and a defensive dig from Erik Shoji.
Facing the home crowd and a more experienced U.S. squad, the Chinese team showed admirable resilience and fighting spirit.
Heynen said he was satisfied with his players' performance.
"They played a very very good match. I think we were better than team USA but we don't win, because there are three moments of the match: the start of the first set, the start of the fourth and the start of the tie break. In the three sets, we start too late. We are always four points behind. That's a pity that we have the chance to win but don't do it."
"So I can only say I'm happy with how they played, because we have a lot of injuries - we're not at full strength. It's very hard to make a lot of excuses, but if you have the chance to win, you have to win, and that is so disappointing," Heynen said.
"I think we played very close as a team," he continued. "But we don't use our chances. And if you don't use your chances in sport, you lose."
China is scheduled to face Brazil on Thursday and Italy on Friday. ■
