Yokohama, Japan, October 20, 2018 - Li Yingying scored a match-high 20 points as China defeated the Netherlands 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-14) in the third-place match at the FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship on Saturday night.
Yuan Xinyue and Gong Xiangyu both scored 11 points for China in the victory.
Lonneke Sloetjes led the Netherlands with 15 points in the loss.
The result marked the first time that China, a two-time champion, has won the bronze medal at the World Championship.
Despite the loss, the Dutch recorded their best finish ever in the event with fourth place.
China lost to Italy in their semifinal on Friday, while the Netherlands fell to Serbia.
Despite falling in a five-set thriller to Italy, China came out energized against the Dutch this day.
There were few rallies of note in the contest, with most points coming in rapid fashion.
The Netherlands committed unforced errors that complicated their attempts to take on their powerful foes.
China was very active in the first set, passing with precision on offense and blocking well on defense.
The second set followed the first with China scoring quickly on attack and playing good defense. The Dutch were unable to string together a run of points to counter China.
China was scoring almost at will in the final set on attack, racking up point after point very fast.
The Netherlands took a 6-4 lead in the first set on a spike by Anne Buijs. A block by Sloetjes made it 12-11 for the Dutch. China led 15-12 after an ace by Li Yingying. It was 16-13 at the second TTO after a deft tip by Li. A wing attack by Buijs tied the score 18-18. A spike by Yan Ni off an option play put China up 20-18. Buijs made it 22-22 when her spike was blocked out. A big blast from Zhu Ting gave China set point at 24-22. Li's service ace gave China the set 25-22.
Yuan Xinye's spike saw China go ahead 7-5 in the second set. Sloetjes fired a spike long and China led 16-12 at the second TTO. A Dutch spike went long as China stretched their lead to 19-14 and the Netherlands called timeout. Gong Xiangyu came up with a big block on Celeste Plak as China stretched its lead to 23-17. A spike by Zhu gave China the set 25-19.
An ace by Yan moved China ahead 7-5 in the third set. China scored quickly in the third set with the score going to 12-5 on a wing attack from Gong. An attack from the middle by Yuan put China in front 15-7. An ace by Yan moved China ahead 7-5 in the third set. China scored quickly in the third set with the score going to 12-5 on a wing attack from Gong. An attack from the middle by Yuan put China in front 15-7. China continued to tack on points and closed out the match 25-14.