No one likes putting their fate in someone else’s hands, but that’s exactly what happened to the U.S. women’s national team in the second round of the 2018 FIVB World Championships. 

After going undefeated in their first pool, the Americans went 2-2 in the second and had to wait and see if China would defeat Russia in the final match of Pool F to allow the USA to advance.

Although China had already secured its spot in the Final Six, win or lose in the Russia match, the No. 1-ranked team in the world played like it and dismissed Russia in four, giving the USA the No. 3 spot in the pool.

Early in second-round play, the USA barely blinked in defeating both Bulgaria and Turkey in straight sets. The most Bulgaria scored in any of the three sets was 17 points, as outside hitter Kim Hill and opposite Karsta Lowe led the USA with 13 and 12 points respectively.

See the highlights of the USA's ?? 6th straight win at the #FIVBWomensWCH, a 0-3 (16-25, 17-25, 11-25) triumph over Bulgaria ?? in their first match in Pool F!

Final stats: https://t.co/WBtjq6nMPW #volleyball #volleyballWCHs @usavolleyball pic.twitter.com/84D9ZUkSkY

— Volleyball World (@FIVBVolleyball) October 7, 2018

The next night, USA out-blocked Turkey eight to two and held Turkey’s top offensive contributor Meryem Boz to just six kills. Opposite Kelly Murphy collected a match-high 12 points for the USA, while Jordan Larson, Hill, and Foluke Akinradewo added 10 each.

But in their third second-round match, the Americans’ difficulty began almost immediately, with China jumping out to an 8-4 lead in the first set and then using a late 6-0 run to win 25-17. In the second set, the USA led 23-22, but China then scored four of the final five points of the match to win 26-24. China led by six early in the third and ultimately earned the sweep 25-18. Throughout the entire match, China made only eight errors. Zhu Ting led with 19 points, while USA captain Larson had 14. 

Against Italy, the 19-year-old sensation Paola Ogechi Egonu dominated the USA in both teams’ final pool-play match, collecting 33 points on 25 kills, five blocks, and three aces. As a team, Italy out-blocked the USA 15 to seven and scored six aces to the Americans’ two. Italy remains the only undefeated team remaining in the tournament.

The U.S. Women fall in a tough 4 set match to Italy ?? in the #FIVBWomensWCH.

Full Livestream Schedule ➡️ https://t.co/iySPqrITY2
? @FIVBVolleyball pic.twitter.com/spc737LW0k

— USA Volleyball (@usavolleyball) October 11, 2018

“We are quite disappointed with this loss,” USA head coach Karch Kiraly said. “Volleyball is played by human beings who are not perfect -- thank God for that. Both China and Italy played really nice, strong volleyball and put us in difficult positions.”

Italy (9-0, 27 points), China (8-1, 24 points), and the USA (7-2, 19 points) advance from Pool F, while Pool E’s top finishes Netherlands (8-1, 24 points), Japan (7-2, 22 points), and Serbia (7-2, 21 points) will also make the journey to Nagoya, Japan, for the Final Six.