Taiwan takes third place at inaugural AVC Women's Volleyball Nations Cup

Taipei, June 15 (CNA) Taiwan's team to the inaugural Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) Women's Volleyball Nations Cup in Vietnam defeated Kazakhstan on Saturday to take home a bronze medal.

With the cup's host country Vietnam defeating the Philippines to take first place, Taiwan was pitted against Kazakhstan in the bronze medal match on Saturday.

The height advantage of the Kazakh players saw the team take the first set 17-25.

However, by alternating between varying tactics, Taiwan was able to turn the tide and won the next three sets 25-13, 25-16 and 25-13 to take the best-out-of-five match.

Hitters Chang Yi-chi (張稦豈) and Liu Shuang-ling (劉雙菱) gave it their all to deliver on the plays called by team captain Elaine Liao (廖苡任).

Speaking with CNA, Taiwan team head coach Demy Teng (鄧衍敏) said she was most satisfied with the firepower the players were able to muster through teamwork.

Even though the Kazakh players were very good, Taiwan's athletes were able to execute the plays called out by the team, Teng said.

"We had very little time from the team's formation to training and ultimately competing in the tournament," she said. "But, everyone was able to come together in a short period of time. Naturally, there are still many areas where we can improve."

Although the Taiwan team to the 2025 AVC Women's Volleyball Nations Cup started training in February this year after the release of the roster in January, the team members did not get a chance to work together until late April, as a result of various players committing to other competitions with their respective teams such as the 2025 AVC Women's Champions League event.

The full team finally held off-site training in late May in Japan which allowed them to develop teamwork and camaraderie.

Teng went on to add that the Taiwan team will continue to work hard in preparation for the upcoming FISU World University Games and Asian Games.

The inaugural AVC Women's Volleyball Nations Cup was the first competition rebranded from the now defunct AVC Women's Challenge Cup that was founded in 2018.

The event was contested by 11 teams spanning two pools that saw the top two teams in each pool reach the semifinals.

The newly designed competition allows nations that are not a part of the International Volleyball Federation's (FIVB) Volleyball Nations League competitions, such as Taiwan, to accumulate points needed to take part in bigger international competitions.

In addition, the champion of this year's AVC Women's Volleyball Nations Cup, host-nation Vietnam, automatically qualified for the Asian Women's Volleyball Championship that will be held in China in 2026.