China won a close five-set match against Japan while the United States downed defending champions Russia to claim the top spot of Pool C of the Women's Volleyball World Championship in Italy on Sunday.

It was a battle of top spikers from both China and Japan as Zhu Ting and Saori Kimura led their respective teams to a thrilling five-set match with the Chinese nationals edging out the Japanese squad 25-16, 18-25, 25-27, 25-17, 15-11 to win Pool D at the Palaflorio Hall in Bari.

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The match was more of a spiking spree for both teams as Ting led China with 29 points followed by Chunlei Zheng with 18 points and team captain Ruoqi Hui with 15 while Kimura top scored Japan with 28 points.

Of the 29 points, Ting contributed 9 block points which made the difference in the game as China made a total of 19 blocks compared to just the two of Japan.

"China is a very good team with tall strong players and this is quite a disadvantage for us," Japan coach Manabe Masayoshi said. "We are going to prepare for Phase 2, being aware of the fact that our opponents are strong in block attacks. So, we have to improve our stategies."

In Pool C, team USA battled a tough match against seven-time champions Russia 34-32, 25-19, 29-31, 26-24.

With two of the tallest female volleyball players in the world, Russia was scouring over the net against its final qualifying matchup against USA but the Americans were unfazed at crunch time and delivered when it matters the most.

 "It has been a great, great battle, and I've enjoyed it so much," USA coach Karch Kiraly said. "Both teams played a very good volleyball, and I congratulate in particular (Tatiana) Kosheleva."

Jordan Larson-Burbach and Kelly Murphy both scored 20 points to lead the Americans while 6-foot-8 Tatiana Kosheleva scored game-high 31 points for Russia followed by fellow giantess Ekaterina Gamova with 20 points.

USA tops their pool and joins top seed Brazil and host nation Italy in the next round.

TagsZhu Ting, Saori Kimura, Chunlei Zheng, Karch Kiraly, Ekaterina Gamova, Tatiana Kosheleva