BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- Defending champions Jiangsu downed leaders Shanghai 3-2 here on Saturday, making it to the semifinals of the China Women's Volleyball League.
Jiangsu, who also won the Chinese National Games title last September, beat Shanghai 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 19-25 and 15-11 on home turf, edging over Bayi for the last semifinal spot after the latters lost to Zhejiang 3-2 on Saturday evening.
Prior to Saturday's games, Shanghai, Liaoning and Tianjin have already secured the top three places for the semifinals, leaving Jiangsu and Bayi to vie for the last ticket, where Bayi would make it with a victory while Jiangsu must win over Shanghai, together with a victory of Zhejiang over Bayi.
And the things went on in the favor of the defending champions on the day as Zhang Changning scored a commanding 37 points to guide Jiangsu for a full-set victory. Two hours later, Zhejiang presented a huge gift to Jiangsu, by beating Bayi 25-14, 25-21, 23-25, 18-25 and 15-13.
For the semifinals, Jiangsu will play Shanghai and Liaoning face Tianjin.
