Russia have moved back to the top of the standings at the FIVB Women’s World Cup ©FIVB

Russia moved back to the top of the standings at the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) Women’s World Cup in Japan thanks to an emphatic straight-sets victory against reigning world champions the United States.

Tatiana Kosheleva scored a game-high 16 points in Nagoya to help the 1973 World Cup winners claim a 25-17, 31-29, 25-23 triumph. 

Yana Shcherban, Nataliya Obmochaeva and Irina Fetisova also contributed 14 points each for Russia, who now have 24 points with eight wins from nine matches.

They lead the way by virtue of a superior sets ratio to China, who earlier beat the Dominican Republic 25-16, 25-17, 25-19, also in Nagoya.

Middle blocker Yang Junjing scored 14 points, while Zhu Ting added 13 as China cruised to a sixth consecutive win in the 12-team round robin tournament.

Three points behind Russia and China in third place are Serbia after they earned a 25-22, 25-19, 25-15 victory against Cuba in Komaki.

Stefana Veljkovic and Ana Bjelica notched 10 points each for Serbia, whose hitters scored 42 points from the attack line.

The final match in Nagoya saw hosts Japan overcome winless Algeria 25-8, 25-10, 25-6 to successfully recover from their agonising five-set defeat to Serbia on Tuesday (September 1).

Yuki Ishii racked up 10 kills and three aces to lead the fifth-placed home nation to a seventh victory. 

Serbia kept themselves firmly in contention with a straight-sets win against Cuba
Serbia kept themselves firmly in contention with a straight-sets win against Cuba ©FIVB

Meanwhile in Komaki, there were also wins for Argentina and South Korea against Peru and Kenya respectively.

Argentina twice came from behind against their South American rivals en route to a 16-25, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22, 15-12 success, inspired by 19 points from captain Emilce Sosa.

It was much more straight forward for South Korea as Kim Yeon-koung converted 20 of her 31 spiking opportunities to lead them to a 21-16, 21-16 21-19 victory at the expense of the African champions.

Action in Japan is scheduled to continue tomorrow with the stand-out match being Russia’s top of the table clash with China in Nagoya, which also plays host to the Dominican Republic’s meeting with Algeria and Japan’s encounter with the US.

Cuba go up against Peru to start the day’s proceedings in Komaki, followed by Kenya’s tie with Serbia and Argentina’s contest with South Korea.



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