Olympic Women’s Volleyball Report: Li Yingying Scores Decisive Points as China Defeats USA in Opening Match

At 23:00 on July 29, a key preliminary match of Group A in the Paris Olympic women’s volleyball tournament kicked off, with Team China facing off against Team USA.

In the latest FIVB world ranking points system for women’s national teams, China is ranked 6th (341.89 points), while the United States is ranked 5th (349.10 points). This match was of critical importance to both teams, and as such, they each fielded their strongest lineups.

China’s starting lineup was Zhu Ting, Li Yingying, Yuan Xinyue, Wang Yuanyuan, Gong Xiangyu, and Diao Linyu, with Wang Mengjie as libero. The United States lined up with Cook, Larson, Drews, Washington, Boulter, and libero Orantes Huang.

In the first set, both teams placed great emphasis on getting off to a good start. The U.S. team’s vice spiker posed frequent challenges, while China relied on counterattacks and strong serves from Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue to repeatedly breach the opponents’ defense, with the score rising in turn. After reaching 13-13, China’s serves repeatedly disrupted the opponent’s first pass, and they capitalized on American mistakes to gradually pull ahead. Li Yingying’s consecutive powerful attacks at the end of the first set helped stabilize China’s lead, and the Chinese women’s volleyball team ultimately won the first set 25-20.

In the second set, the U.S. team again took an early lead, but after China stabilized its footing, they capitalized on American mistakes and strong attacks by Gong Xiangyu and Zhu Ting, pulling ahead to 16-11 and forcing the U.S. to call a timeout. Upon returning from the timeout, the U.S. continued to make errors, and under the leadership of Yuan Xinyue and Wang Mengjie, China produced a small defensive counterattack climax, with Gong Xiangyu and Li Yingying scoring consecutively. With Zhu Ting’s successful powerful attack, the Chinese women’s volleyball team won the second set 25-19.

In the third set, competition intensified. China’s defensive quality dropped in the early stages, and the U.S. opened up with strong attacks from Washington, taking the lead at 10-5. China brought on veteran Ding Xia to steady the situation and relied on Zhu Ting’s fierce attacks from the second position to close the gap to 9-11, forcing the U.S. to call a timeout. After the timeout, China’s first-pass errors allowed the U.S. to further widen the gap, and the U.S. women’s volleyball team recovered a set with a 25-17 victory.

In the fourth set, China continuously disrupted the opponent’s first pass with serves from Zhu Ting and Yuan Xinyue during tight scoring, forcing the U.S. to call a timeout. Thereafter, the two teams’ scores alternated, reaching 18-all, at which point the U.S. called another timeout, and China also took the opportunity to strategize. After the timeout, three consecutive errors by China handed the initiative over to the U.S., with Washington scoring points from her serve. The U.S. women’s volleyball team won the set 25-20, evening the overall score at 2-2.

In the deciding set, Wang Yuanyuan and Yuan Xinyue scored points in succession, with China performing well in the early stages. When the score reached 6-6, Li Yingying scored four points in a row through individual blocking, powerful attacks from the first position, powerful spikes, and light drop shots, helping China establish a solid foundation and forcing another U.S. timeout. After the timeout, Li Yingying, who had fully hit her stride, continued to rack up points, while Wang Yuanyuan also contributed consistently on both offense and defense. Ultimately, the Chinese women’s volleyball team withstood the pressure, winning the deciding set 15-13 and defeating the U.S. 3-2, securing a victorious start in the Paris Olympic women’s volleyball preliminaries.