On March 21, the semi-finals of the 2025-2026 Chinese Women's Volleyball Super League came to an end. The Shanghai Women's Volleyball Team and Jiangsu Women's Volleyball Team won each and advanced to the finals. The Shanghai Women's Volleyball Team defeated the Shandong Women's Volleyball Team 3-1 at home and took the lead in advancing with two consecutive wins. The Jiangsu Women's Volleyball Team swept the Tianjin Women's Volleyball Team 3-0, dragging the game into the golden game, and finally won a thrilling 18-16 victory, completing the transformation from a disastrous defeat in the first round to a reversal and advancement.
In the second round of the showdown between the Shanghai Women's Volleyball Team and the Shandong Women's Volleyball Team, the Shanghai team, playing at home, quickly entered the state and established an advantage in two consecutive games. In the third game, the Shandong team fought back tenaciously to win the game. In the fourth game, the Shanghai team adjusted their status in time and hit an offensive climax to seal the victory. They won with a total score of 3-1 and advanced to the Super League finals for four consecutive years.
After the game, Cai Bin, head coach of the Shanghai Women's Volleyball Team, reviewed the game, "This game did have some ups and downs. Both teams were very dedicated, and the Shandong team showed a good fighting state and a relaxed mentality. Our side was a little relaxed after the first two games, resulting in a stalemate in the score. After being attacked by the opponent in the third game, the players' hands and feet were also a little tight."
The Shanghai team performed well in blocking. Cai Bin particularly emphasized, "Blocking is definitely a key part of our preparation before the game. It is a good means of scoring. Now our blocking is more proactive instead of passive defense."
The Jiangsu team, which suffered a disastrous away defeat in the first round, returned to the home court for a last-ditch battle. The whole game was full of firepower, serving, blocking and attacking to completely suppress their opponents, sweeping the Tianjin team 3-0. In the golden game, the Jiangsu team once took a big lead, but was chased by the Tianjin team in the final stage. The suspense was full. At the critical moment, the core attacker Wu Mengjie stepped forward to complete the fatal attack. The Jiangsu team struggled to advance to the finals. As an all-Chinese team, the Jiangsu team greatly improved its first pass accuracy and completely suppressed its opponents in blocking scores. Tang Xin and Zhou Yetong also flourished on the offensive end, showing strong adjustment ability and team cohesion.
As the semi-finals come to an end, this season's Super League finals are about to take place. The contest between the Shanghai Women's Volleyball Team and the Jiangsu Women's Volleyball Team is not only a battle for the championship, but also a tactical collision between "high suppression" and "speed impact", a competition between the firepower of foreign aid and the resilience of the all-China class, coupled with the master-apprentice coaching showdown between Cai Bin and Shi Hairong, making this showdown full of highlights.
In terms of tactical style, the two teams are in sharp contrast. The Shanghai team focuses on the hard-power style of "lifting high and playing high". It relies on the height and strength advantages of two foreign players, Voronkova and Van Reijk, and the top blocking of Gao Yi and Chen Houyu to build a "Great Wall of Nets". The precise passing of the setter Xu Xiaoting can maximize the advantage of the attack, but the tactical routine is relatively fixed, and the problem of over-reliance on the firepower of foreign players may become a hidden danger.
The Jiangsu team focuses on "quick and agile" and relies on the tacit cooperation of the entire Chinese class to focus on quick tactics. Wu Mengjie's super-hand offense complements the multi-point blooming of Zhou Yetong and Tang Xin. However, the team's first pass accuracy is still short, and the offensive height is not as high as that of the Shanghai team. The blocking link will face a greater test.
Direct dialogue between core players will be the key to victory or defeat. The Shanghai team's Voronkova has a balanced offense and defense and is the team's "anchor". Van Reich's strong offensive firepower and Gao Yi's blocking deterrence form a three-dimensional offensive and defensive system; although the Jiangsu team's Wu Mengjie is full of offensive explosiveness, she has to bear the burden of first pass and defense at the same time, which consumes a lot of physical energy. Her on-the-spot state will directly determine the team's offensive efficiency. In addition, the stability of Shanghai team's local attacker Zhong Hui's first pass, the dispatching ability of Jiangsu team's setter Zhang Zixuan, and the performance of both sides' substitute players may all become variables that affect the direction of the game.
Regarding this focus showdown, Cai Bin had a firm attitude, "Being able to reach the finals is the result of the joint efforts of the whole team. Next, we have only one goal – to go all out. Our opponents in the finals will definitely not be weak teams, and difficulties will inevitably exist, but our core is to find ways to overcome difficulties and show the team's due level on the field."
