Yuan Zhi (No. 3) hit the 30-point mark again, helping China with their second victory in Pool C
Gdansk, Poland, September 3, 2014 – China had a flawed first set but recovered in the succeeding sets 3-1 (20-25, 25-19, 25-20, 25-20) against Mexico, for their second victory in Pool C of the FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championship at the Ergo Arena on Wednesday.
Key Points
• Yuan Zhi had another stellar scoring performance with 30 points, he scored 31 points against Egypt last Monday.
• Yuan Zhi was excellent at the service line, he had six of the nine aces of China.
• Chinese middle Geng Xin was solid with his net defence, he had five blocks – the same number as the total block output of Mexico.
• China won both their matches with a 3-1 scoreline.
Mexico and China struggled to score their points in the first set but later on the former got their attacks running, led by captain Carlos Guerra and Daniel Vargas. The two players turned out to be the biggest threat to the Chinese defence. The Mexicans’ efficient blocking scheme contributed to their 16-12 advantage.
China remained distracted by the Mexican defence and could not manage to steal the Mexican lead. Mexico, on the other hand, extended their lead to 22-17 as the Asian team hurdled on errors in serve and attack. Mexico clinched the first set 25-20.
In a similar fashion as the first set, Mexico started the set with the lead. Tomas Aguilera starred in the middle position for Mexico. Aguilera’s stint at the middle gave an 8-4 advantage at the first technical timeout. After the break, Yuan Zhi tried to change the course of events for China that gave them the eventual lead at 17-16. Chinese captain Zhong Weijun contributed on the offensive and extended the lead to 23-18. Mexico managed to score only one point as China had no problems scoring the next two points to seal the victory in the second set 25-19.
Mexico once again took control of the game early in the set but China started scoring points from their excellent block and serve. China led 14-12 until Guerra deadlocked the score at 19-all. China efficiently raked in the needed points to close the third set 25-20.
China shifted their offence to the middle in the third set. Geng Xin helped his team to get a 13-12 advantage, while Mexico struggled on defence. China gained some more breathing space with a three-point margin at 19-16. Mexican star Vargas could not convert on his attacks that allowed China to secure set and match victory 25-20.