BEILUN, East China, May 15 (Xinhua) -- World No. 1 and reigning Olympic champions China came to a flying start at the inaugural Volleyball Nations League, taking a one-sided 3-0 win over Dominica in a women's Pool 2 match here on Tuesday.
Teenage sensation Li Yingying sparkled in her debut as a member of the national side, scoring game-high 17 points, 15 of those from spikes. Middle blocker Yuan Xinyue spiked off nine points and claimed another four through blocks, while Liu Xiaotong added 10.
Opting to rest captain Zhu Ting, who's just back to China after a successful season with Turkish side VakifBank Istanbul, the Chinese coach Lang Ping named Liu Xiaotong as the wing spiker and on-court skipper, with opposite hitter Li, Yuan and liberto Lin Li also on the starting list.
After a slow start with both sides serving to lose points, China built up a firm lead 16-11 after the second technical timeout of the opening set.
Learning from the first set, the hosts entered the following sets more strong minded, played a 11-1 run in the end of the game before Liu spiked to nail the winning point and wrapped it up 25-17, 25-15, 25-11.
"I asked our team to focus on the match and they did an excellent job, especially in teamwork. That's the secret lead to the good result," commented Lang at a post-match press conference.
"I hope my players can seize the opportunity to improve themselves in the game," she added.
With the victory, China, who won the 2017 Grand Champions Cup and the 2015 World Cup, extended their head-to-head record against the Caribbean side to a convincing 21-1 in major competitions and 12 victories in a row.
Earlier in the afternoon, Belgium eased past South Korea in straight sets, 25-18, 25-22, 25-21 to kick off the women's tournament in Beilun, East China.
Belgian wing spiker Britt Herbots led the scoring board of the game with 16 points, while South Korea's captain Kim Yeon Koung claimed 15 points, all from her lethal spikes.
It has been the first win in the past one year for the Belgians and that over Asian opponents in world level major competitions. Head coach Gert Vande Broek didn't even try to hide his satisfaction towards his players.
"We are all very happy to have these very important three points and to have started the very first match for the Volleyball Nations League," said Vande Broek.
He admitted that his team experienced two nervous moments throughout the match, one at the beginning and the one at the end of the second set.
"We had a second nervous moment at the end of the second set, when we already lost five to six points and No. 14 (Yang Hyo Jin) was serving. Luckily we were making no mistake.
"But I'm proud of my team, the way they fought today, the way they played today, and the way they execute all blocks," he added.
Belgium will face China on Wednesday evening, as Vande Broek sang high praise of the next opponents, saying they're facing "the best team in the world, which is guided by the greatest coach in the world."
"It'll be difficult, but we'll enjoy these moments to play against China and learn from them," he said.
The inaugural women's VNL is a brand new competition that FIVB has introduced to the sport, with 16 teams from across the globe compete in a preliminary round over five weeks in a total of 20 pools of four teams each. There will be one ranking table across all pools with the top five teams at the end of the preliminary round joining the hosts for the Finals.
