The outside hitter scored 24 points as the Asians handed the Europeans their first defeat in the VNL 2026
Published 05:57, 07 Jun 2026
Zhuang topped all scorers and played a key role in China's comeback win
Pushed by over 10,000 fans at the Nanjing Olympic Youth Sports Park Gymnasium, hosts China prevented Poland from returning home with a perfect record from the opening week of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026 on Sunday.
The Asians started behind in the teams' final match of the week, but regained their form as the duel progressed and triumphed 3-1 (16-25, 25-18, 25-23, 26-24), sending their fans back home with smiles on their faces.
China vs. Poland - Highlights | Women's VNL 2026
With that, the two sides and Czechia had the best records among the six national teams that competed in Nanjing this week, with each of them securing three victories in four matches - the Czechs earned nine points, the Chinese eight and the Polish seven.
Belgium (two wins and two losses, five points), Serbia (one win and three losses, five points) and Thailand (four losses, two points) were also allocated in Nanjing in the opening week of the VNL 2026.
China's top scorer in the first week of the event, 23-year-old outside hitter Zhuang Yushan played a major role in their comeback, contributing 24 points (20 kills, three blocks, one ace) in their victory. Opposite Tang Xin, outside hitter Li Chenxuan scored 11 each, while middle blockers Guo Zhongnan and Wang Aoqian tallied ten and nine, respectively.
"Poland have very tall and powerful hitters, and we prepared very well for this match," team captain Gong Xiangyu said. "I was very happy to see that our young players can perform at such a high level as they did today. I think our mentality improved during the week after we lost our first match."
#VNL2026: CHINA COMPLETE THE COMEBACK 🇨🇳🔥
— Volleyball World (@volleyballworld) June 7, 2026
China 🇨🇳 shook off a slow start against Poland 🇵🇱 and switched gears from set 2 onwards to take the 3-1 win in front of 10,000 fans 🤩
Zhuang Yushan led the charge for China with 2️⃣4️⃣ points, powering the team through a tight 26-24… pic.twitter.com/8evNe9bad0
Poland, which had to endure a defeat after winning their first three matches in Nanjing, had outside hitters Julia Piasecka, with 16 points (14 kills, two blocks), and Monika Lampkowska (formerly Fedusio), with 14 (12 kills, one block, one ace), as their standouts in their last match in the Chinese city.
Before the Chinese comeback, two other matches were held in Nanjing on Sunday. In the first of them, Czechia had no trouble earning their third victory in the tournament by sweeping Thailand 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-11). Opposite Monika Brancuská was the team's top scorer with 14 points (12 kills, two blocks), two more than middle blocker Magdaléna Jehlářová.
Thailand vs. Czechia - Highlights | Women's VNL 2026
Later, Belgium fought hard to stop Serbia's comeback after winning the first two sets and succeeded, coming out on top 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 15-12) to upset their continental rivals for the first time since 2021.
Opposite Pauline Martin led the winning side with 24 points (23 kills, one block), while outside hitter Anja Zubić registered 20 (18 kills, two blocks) for the Serbians.
Belgian star outside hitter Britt Herbots surpassed the mark of 1,300 points in the VNL during the match with her 18-point performance (16 kills, two blocks) and is now only 25 points away from becoming the event's top scorer among the women.
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