China lose to US for 2nd place at volleyball Hong Kong GP

HONG KONG -- China suffered their first loss in nine FIVB women's volleyball Grand Prix matches when they fell to the United States 25-19, 25-21 and 25-17 here on Sunday.

China, the winners in the Macao and Ningbo GPs, had to settle for the second place while the US clinched the Hong Kong GP title.

"Our objective in the World Grand Prix is to train and improve our players. We regret we did not play an exciting game today," said China coach Lang Ping. "The US serves damaged our momentum and they were too fast for us to cope with."

"It's a great learning opportunity and I hope our players can gain experience and get ready for the Rio Olympics."

Gong Xiangyu had the team-high 10 points while Jordan Larson-Burgach grabbed 18 points for the US.