JIANGMEN, China, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Shanghai beat Henan 3-1 without two of its foreign players to secure the second place in the Chinese women's volleyball league here on Friday.
After taking a hard-fought victory in the first two sets, Shanghai lost its strong attack, allowing Henan to lead 11-4 at the beginning of the third set. Although Shanghai saved three game points, it ultimately suffered defeat in the third. Thanks to Zhong Hui's successful spikes, Shanghai smashed Henan 25-15 in the fourth set.
Without the service of Jordan Larson and Louisa Lippmann, Shanghai's spiker Zhong Hui scored a match-high 29 points with Zhang Lei adding 17, while Zhai Siqi and Cai Xiaoqing scored 17 and 16 for Henan respectively.
Tianjin smashed Yunnan 3-0, spiker Wang Yizhu scored 27 points and Li Yingying added 16 as Tianjin enjoyed 10 straight wins in the second stage and the top place in the standings.
In other matches, Liaoning defeated Sichuan 3-1 (25-7, 25-21, 22-25, 25-16), Fujian overcame Jiangsu 3-0 (25-21, 25-18, 27-25), Shandong defeated Guangdong 3-1 (25-22, 25-15, 18-25, 25-19), and Beijing overwhelmed Zhejiang 3-0 (25-19, 25-22, 25-20).
The first two stages ended after Friday's matches, with the top eight teams to enter the third stage to fight for the championship. Enditem
