Thessaloniki, Greece, June 20, 2015 - China recorded their fifth win in Pool G of the FIVB World League with a 3-1 (25-11, 25-23, 18-25, 25-15) victory against Mexico on Saturday. China's Zhejia Zhang and Qingyao Dai scored 12 points each, including four booming aces from Zhang.
China were red-hot favourites before the match and they started things off accordingly with two aces in a row from Zhang Zhejia helping them earn a 12-5 lead. Mexico were no match for their Asian opponents in the first set as China built on their advantage to snatch the opener in less than 20 minutes, 25-11.
The Chinese players seemed a little surprised when Mexico put up a good fight from the beginning of the second set. Mexico stole the lead away from China to go 11-10 up and added two more points to their lead before the second technical time-out. They were soon able to extend the lead to 20-15, but at this point the Asian side stepped up their game. Much like in yesterday's win over Slovakia, service was key as China tied the score again at 21-all. The finish belonged to the more experienced Chinese team as two spikes from the middle from Zhang Zhejia and Jiao gave them a 25-23 win in the set.
Despite the loss, it seems that the hard-fought second set was the confidence boost Mexico needed. After a tight start they got in front at 14-10. This time they were able to hold on to their lead thanks to a solid all-round performance. Augilera successfully blocked Song to give Mexico a surprising win in the third set. In the following set China went back to their powerful serve, which Mexico could not find an answer to. The Asian side raced off to an 8-3 lead and never looked back as they quickly snatched the set, 25-15.
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