China defeated the 14th-ranked Netherlands 3-1 to claim their second consecutive win at the FIVB Men’s Nations League stop in Xi’an, northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, on Saturday.

The Netherlands had swept China 3-0 in both of their previous Nations League meetings. After dominating Serbia 3-0 on Thursday, 20th-ranked China had a day off on Friday, while the Dutch side spent the evening battling to a tough 3-1 win over Türkiye.

Netherlands coach Joel Banks admitted before the match that his team had limited time to recover. “We went back to the hotel late, and hopefully everyone could relax, but it was 1:30 a.m., we were still working with physio,” he said.

Both teams started strong in the opening set, but a string of unforced errors from the Netherlands handed China nine free points. The hosts committed just one error on the other hand, and served up four aces, ultimately taking the first set 25-19.

China quickly built a 17-12 lead in the second set before claiming it 25-20. The Netherlands responded in the third set, surging out of an 8-8 tie with a 10-2 run, en route to wrapping it up 25-13.

In the fourth set, the home side’s Li Yongzhen provided four crucial blocks, helping his team seal the deal 25-17. Following the victory, China’s world ranking rose to 18th.

“In the first two sets, we did very good spiking and serving, really bad blocking and defense, but amazingly, we made no mistakes in serving and spiking,” said China coach Vital Heynen. “The third set was just terrible. And it’s fantastic that we came back in the fourth set and played better in block and defense.”

“I didn’t get many blocks at the start, but after the third set, the coach adjusted our tactics, which proved very effective,” said Li, who led China with 13 points. “This victory is the result of our unity. We fought for every point, whether we were leading or trailing. These two consecutive wins have greatly boosted our confidence.”

China will play Türkiye on Sunday, while the Netherlands meet Japan, and Poland face Serbia.