A day of wonders at the Women's VNL

Two '30+' scores in a day, another slew of five-setters, including a full comeback, marked the opening day of Week 3 at the 2021 FIVB Women's Volleyball Nations League on Sunday, as we approach the halfway point of the league round.

China captain Zhang Changning opened the day firing off 37 points against Belgium for the all-time fifth-best VNL scoring performance.

But it was not enough to see the reigning Olympic champions get past plucky Belgium who have now played five tie-breaks in seven matches - the last four on the trot for as many wins.

Britt Herbots missed out on a third 30+ performance, stopping at 28, but still leads the best scorers table of this competition on 167 points.

But her teammate Marlies Janssens tied the all-time VNL record for most blocks in a single match with nine (out of Belgium's total 17).

• Check out the individual rankings of players

Later in the day, Nataliya Goncharova became the first Russian to feature on the list of players to have scored 30 points or more in a single VNL match, as she bagged 31 and led her side to a remarkable five-set win over the Dominican Republic.

The 'Queens of the Caribbean' kept the pressure on to force a tie-break, but Russia quickly sped off to a 6-1 lead in the fifth from which the Dominicans could never recover.

Meanwhile, the table leaders continued their push towards the Final Four.

Turkey survived a first-set scare but very quickly recovered and brought down Thailand in four, with Meryem Boz bringing in 24 points as they dominated both the serving (11 aces to none) and blocking (14 to 4).

Turkey extended their winning streak to seven matches, still undefeated in this year's VNL.

But USA are just above them in the standings. The Americans had to come from behind in the first set, but totally dominated their match with Germany after that for a 3-0 sweep. They remain not only undefeated, but also the only team in the competition on full points.

Annie Drews, the 2019 VNL MVP, with 65% (17/26) and Kelsey Robinson with two blocks and three aces shared the match high with 17 points each.

• Check out the full standings

Canada, though, missed yet another opportunity at causing a major upset when they led Poland by two sets but again could never finish it off.

Kiera Van Ryk was scoring away, on track to get the third '30+' of the day, but by the third set Poland were on to her and waiting for her. She stopped just two points shy of making history for herself and Canada, as Poland turned it completely around for a 3-2 win.

Her 28 points were enough to keep her in second place of the best scorers' list - but she's way behind Herbots.

Brazil, meanwhile, are keeping up the chase of the table leaders after their total domination over the youngsters of Serbia. It was nice to see legendary Dani Lins on full setting duties - even if only for a set and a half.

The Netherlands also moved up a notch after shutting out Japan with Nika Daalderop attacking for 53% (19/36) and collecting a total of 22 points for the match high.

In other action on Sunday, Italy bagged their first win of the tournament, outplaying Korea in four sets, once they found their way around their opponents' play.

This leaves Thailand the only winless team after seven matches.

• Check out the full results and details of all matches, plus remaining schedule