In the second round of the Chinese Women's Volleyball Super League playoffs, the reigning champions Tianjin Volleyball Team faced off against the Beijing Volleyball Team. In the first round, Tianjin easily defeated Liaoning, with Chen Boya emerging as the team's standout player. The return of Yao Di has greatly improved the team's morale and confidence, with Chen Boya being a testament to this. On the other hand, Beijing suffered a major setback after being dramatically reversed by Shandong in the first round, significantly impacting their morale. Wang Yunlu, who had returned to Beijing for the holidays, has since gone back to Russia. Additionally, the team's third foreign player was unable to join due to personal issues, meaning Beijing was not at full strength and could only aim to challenge Tianjin.
Ultimately, Tianjin swept Beijing 3-0, securing two consecutive victories in the playoffs. In the first set, Beijing's foreign player Begic served first, with both Li Yingying and Fetisova of Tianjin having their attacks blocked. Jin Ye scored the first point with a tip-out, quickly giving Beijing a 3-1 lead. Tianjin then took the lead 4-3 through Li Yingying's attacks and blocks, with both teams displaying a similar style of play, focusing on multiple attacking points. Yao Di intentionally provided more opportunities for Chen Boya, and Tianjin led 12-9, prompting Beijing to call their first timeout. Jin Ye's attacking error allowed Tianjin to extend their lead, with Wang Mengjie making an impressive backcourt save to reduce the gap to two points.
Chen Boya's serving round caused Beijing to stall, trailing 11-17, leading to their second timeout. Shortly after, Beijing's third foreign player, Mlajenovic, made her debut, and the team managed to close the gap to 20-21, forcing Tianjin to call their second timeout. Beijing made frequent substitutions at the end of the set, but ultimately, Fetisova's direct serve secured the first set for Tianjin 25-21.
In the second set, Wang Yizhu scored directly from a defensive play over the net in the second point, exposing Beijing's vulnerabilities and apparent poor mentality. The new foreign player's strong attacks repeatedly broke through Tianjin's blocks, and Yang Yi was brought on to stabilize the reception. Tianjin controlled their mistakes well and had solid small-ball defense, eventually winning the second set 25-17.
In the third set, Tianjin started strongly with a 7-2 lead. When the score was closing in, Zhang Shiqi was brought on, and the foreign libero Fujii also got playing time. Beijing showed great resilience and quickly caught up, leveling the score. At the end of the set, Yao Di's serve went into the net, but Chen Boya scored a crucial point to level the score, with Li Yingying earning match point. After a few tense exchanges, Zhang Shiqi's serving round sealed the victory 28-26.
Coach Chen Fang's bold use of players paid off, especially in the challenging third set where Zhang Shiqi was kept on as the main player, which turned out well. This seemed to validate Coach Wang Baoquan's previous statement that Zhang Shiqi and Fetisova were of similar skill levels. Beijing displayed remarkable tenacity, with Wang Mengjie's defense indeed being world-class. She gave it her all, and even though they lost, Beijing played with honor, showcasing their strengths in the third set.