LINYI, China, June 14 (Xinhua) -- China closed out its 2026 FIVB Men's Volleyball Nations League campaign at the Linyi leg with a 3-0 victory over Cuba on Sunday, earning its first win of the season.
Both teams entered the match on three-game losing streaks, while China had also slipped outside the top 30 in the world rankings. China head coach Vital Heynen had previously described Cuba as his team's "biggest chance to win" during the opening week.
China started strongly and quickly built a 9-6 lead, forcing Cuba to call an early timeout. The home side excelled in quick attacks and serving to take the opening set 25-21.
Cuba committed more unforced errors in the second set, while China maintained its offensive momentum to claim the set 25-19.
In the third set, Cuba's blocking caused problems for China, who fell 7-4 behind early on. However, China maintained aggressive attacking play and gradually turned the tables through stronger offense and improved serving, eventually sealing the set 25-23.
"Cuba have great height and put much more pressure on opponents at the net, so we used our middle blockers more as decoys and tried to spread the ball to both wings," Chinese middle blocker Zhang Zhejia said after the match.
"Today, everyone contributed, and our scoring was well-balanced. That was exactly what we discussed in yesterday's pre-match meeting, and I think the team executed the plan very well," he added.
With the win, China gained 15.25 ranking points and climbed back to world No. 24.
After the match, Heynen expressed satisfaction with the team's overall performance during the tournament, but still expected more from his players.
"On the last day, everybody is tired, so you have to play smart and avoid making too many mistakes. I was not happy with our match today. We can play much better, but I think we were a bit nervous because we knew we had to win today. We knew Cuba was one of the weaker teams here," Heynen said.
"But I hope winning this match can teach the team something," he added. "For me, the biggest thing we achieved here was that, even in the matches we lost, there was always a chance to win. That is a new step for us. We need some luck to beat the top teams, but to have that luck, we first need to put ourselves in a good position."
Elsewhere, Japan defeated Slovenia 3-1 to extend its unbeaten run to four matches this season, while Poland overcame Ukraine 3-2.
"When we arrived here, we didn't really know our level or what was possible for us, but during the matches we saw that maybe we had a chance to win," Japan head coach Laurent Tillie said. "I'm very surprised." ■
