Tianjin claim 12th title at Chinese women's volleyball league

SHANGHAI - Tianjin Bohai Bank took their 12th title of the Chinese women's volleyball league as they swept aside Shanghai Bright Ubest 3-0 in the best-of-five finals with a 3-1 road win here on Tuesday evening.

The 15-time finalists thus made history by becoming the first team to win the league without conceding a match the whole season, while Shanghai lost their sixth straight trip to the finals.

Louisa Lippmann returned to the home court after finishing the European Olympic qualification tournament, and the German opposite made a game-high 22 points for Shanghai that claimed the first set 25-22.

Tianjin, which featured Zhu Ting, Li Yingying and Destinee Hooker, turned over the tide by winning the following sets 25-16, 25-14, 25-19.

And it became the first domestic league title for Zhu, who has achieved a string of top honors for Vakif Bank of Turkey during the previous three seasons.

Apart from the 15 points from Zhu, both Li and Hooker pocketed 18 points apiece for Tianjin.