HONG KONG, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Italy held off China 3-2 here on Sunday to finish second in the women's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) preliminaries.
With the 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 25-12 and 15-12 victory in one hour and 59 minutes, the Olympic and world champion stood behind the United States with 28 points from 10 wins and two losses.
As star spiker Paola Ogechi Egonu was rested for the most of the match, the Italians were led by Ekaterina Antropova's 28 points. Sarah Luisa Fahr, Myriam Fatime Sylla and Stella Nervini added 16, 15 and 13 points respectively.
Li Chenxuan came from the bench to score a team-high 19 points for the Chinese team, which was outspiked by Italy 74-60.
The United States beat Brazil 26-24, 25-22 and 25-16 in Osaka, Japan to take the top place of the preliminary standings with 29 points from 10 wins and two losses.
After three weeks of preliminary play, Brazil, Türkiye, Canada, Japan and the Netherlands will join the United States, Italy and the host China in the Finals, which is scheduled for July 22 to 26 in Macao, China. ■
