Jiangsu Zhongtian Steel stage stage straight-sets win against Garuda

Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, July 14, 2018 – China’s Jiangsu Zhongtian Steel defeated Indonesia’s Garuda 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-20) in Saturday’s classification match of the SMM 2018 Asian Women’s Club Volleyball Championship at the Boris Alexandrov Sports Palace.

Captain Ruoya Xu led all scorers on the board with 19 points, from 16 spikes, two service winners, and one block.

She said: “I am happy for today’s victory. We had only one thing in mind, and that is to win. We tried to face one ball, one point at a time. Whenever we faced difficulty, we tried to face the situation as a team.”

In the opener, both teams put on a close contest, taking turns in side-outs. Jiangsu Zhongtian Steel showed their edge in offense, utilizing several hitters: Han Wu, Ruoya Xu, and Chenyue Wang. Garuda relied on Aprilia Manganang and Amalia Nabila for their attacks. The China club took a narrow 16-15 lead at the second technical time-out, and enabled a tighter presence at the net. The Indonesia club suffered from errors in attack and serve, which eventually led to Jiangsu Zhongtian Steel’s first set win at 25-21.

By the second set, Garuda showed better composure in offense to gain 8-5 in the first TTO. The Chinese side tried to keep within pace, using the attacks of Wenjin Yang. They have likewise identified their opponents’ attack patterns and stood guard with better defense in the frontline. Soon enough, the Indonesia club were making errors in attack. China’s Han Wu equalized at 20-20 with a swing from the right side. Later, Ruoya Xu connected with back-to-back points to help take a 3-point edge. A service error from Garuda closed out the second set, giving 25-22 to Jiangsu Zhongtian Steel.

In the next set, the China club showed mastery of their opponents’ moves. They were able to anticipate most attacks to get into good defensive position. Garuda needed to find ways to execute their offense rather differently, in order to overtake the 13-16 lead at the second TTO. Indonesia’s Amalia and Novia Andriyanti tried to get in some good swings but the team needed more consistent play in order to stage a solid comeback. Meanwhile, Jiangsu Zhongtian Steel established a hefty lead, and took the third set at 25-20.