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Jelic Outstanding as Croatia Upset China in Women's Volleyball
Croatia continued on its winning way, upsetting the more fancied team from China in four sets 25-23, 26-28, 25-20 and 25-15 in the women's volleyball preliminaries of the Olympic Games on Monday.
The youthful Croatians had their opposition's measure and continued to grow in confidence as the match progressed.
Croatian captain Barbara Jelic was unstoppable. Her powerful hitting could not be matched by the Chinese as she blasted 40 kill spikes and had three blocks.
Jelic was ably supported by Natasha Leto's spiking with 16 kills and Elana Cebukina's blocking. Another highlight was the emergence of 17-year-old Biljana Gligorovic, showing maturity beyond her years as she controlled the Croatian attack.
China continued to disappoint as the Olympic silver medallists battled to overcome their inconsistencies. Captain Sun Yue and Wu Yongmei lifted China to take the second, but this was small consolation as the side withered under the pressure of the Croatian game.
China will need to regroup quickly before their next match against Brazil as another loss would be devastating to its confidence. Croatia will play the United States in an eagerly anticipated match.
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