Top finisher of the preliminary round, the USA falls to China, which will now face Turkey.

American joy was short-lived. After a preliminary round won with relative ease—losing only two out of 12 matches (to Canada and Poland)—China, who barely qualified, eliminated the Americans 3–2.

China lost the first set 25–15 but won the next two 25–23 and 25–20, respectively. In the fourth set, China was beaten easily once again, 25–17, making it seem as though the Americans had found their footing in the match.

Mistaken assumption. The tie-break was fiercely contested. The Americans were only able to build a maximum lead of two points over the Chinese during this set, reaching 10–8. However, after the Chinese went up 11–12, the USA couldn't turn the tide and was defeated 13–15.

Turkey

In the previous match, Turkey and Canada played for the second-to-last spot in the semifinals. Canada started better, winning the first set 22–25, but Turkey bounced back to win the following sets 25–21, 25–21, and 25–17.

The semifinals between Brazil vs. Italy and China vs. Turkey take place this Saturday in Macao at 4:00 PM and 7:30 PM local time. The finals will be held on Sunday, with the 3rd place match at 3:30 PM and the grand final at 7:30 PM.