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SAPPORO, Japan, Sept. 23-- When two unbeaten teams met, only one could keep its clean record and China walked down the court as winners with a straight-set triumph over the United States here on Monday at the FIVB Women's World Cup. Captain Zhu Ting had a game-high 23 points in the 25-16, 25-17, 25-22 victory. Karsta Lowe scored 10 points to lead the American side that was troubled by 16 errors. The United States hold a 4-2 head-to-head advantage over China in their six encounters over the recent two years, with all wins from the Nations League and losses from the 2018 World Championship. The last time the two sides met in the World Cup in 2017, United States had a straight-set victory over China, which still won the title at last. The game was close from the very beginning before China spurred a 5-1 run after leading by 7-6, which forced the United States to two timeouts, but only to see China surge ahead 18-9 with another 6-2 run. Kelsey Robinson and Zhu both displayed their powerful spikes thereafter, and China maintained their lead to claim the first set 25-16 with an ace from Yan Ni. Lowe led the Americans' attacking charges in the second set to trail closely behind a Chinese side fired by Zhu and Zhang Changning. But frequent errors, especially in service, were too costly for the Nations League champions, who only managed five points after 13-12 down while China enjoyed a two-set advantage following excellent plays by Zhu, MVP of last World Cup. | 
