RIO DE JANEIRO -- Head held high as she took the court moments after her Chinese team entered the arena, Jenny Lang Ping waved and smiled in several directions then paced around the floor observing Chinas championship opponent from Serbia.She proudly sang through the national anthem, then guided her team to a come-from-behind gold -- and made her own history, too.Lang Ping became the first person to win volleyball gold as a coach and player, her China team rallying from one-set down to defeat the upstart Serbians 19-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 on Saturday night in the Rio championship match at Maracanazinho arena.Early on in this tournament, Lang Ping -- who captured an Olympic title with the 1984 Chinese national team in Los Angeles then later spent a four-year stint coaching the Americans -- challenged her players to find ways to grow from their struggles with the world watching.All along, Lang Ping believed her emotional China players had the talent and determination to compete with the top programs in the world.And oh, did they show it. Once they found a groove.China took a 23-22 lead in the fourth set when Ting Zhus kill sent Maja Ognjenovic to the floor with a hard ball to the face, and the match was over shortly thereafter. Lang Ping raised both arms in the air and Fangxu Yang sprinted over to embrace her. Many more hugs followed.The Chinese exhibited that same fire and fight a year ago while winning the World Cup in Japan, then got to Rio de Janeiro earlier this month and worked through some initial rough, inconsistent Olympic moments.When the Chinese squad lost its Olympic opener in five sets to the Netherlands back on Aug. 6, Lang Ping challenged her players: to learn, to support one another through the ups and downs, to grow from each defeat and triumph on the pressure-packed Olympic stage.China responded, and seemed to play better when the moments got bigger.Lang Pings group of women found its top level of volleyball over the recent days in Rio de Janeiro and spoiled things for a volleyball-crazed country in the process. China took down the two-time defending Olympic champion Brazilian women on their home turf in Tuesdays quarterfinals to show this team had arrived -- and, until Saturday night, that had been Chinas shining moment.The Chinese had much more fight still in them.Serbia had pulled off an improbable upset of its own by taking down the top-ranked U.S. women in a thrilling five-set semifinal Thursday.The Serbian women wore their socks pulled up Saturday, the words Play to Win written on the back. Their hands entwined, they sang in unison during the national anthem in an undeniably proud moment for the players, their supporters in the Rio stands and all of those others back home.For Serbia, there will still be so much to celebrate from this remarkable run to the championship in Rio. This is the programs first Olympic medal, ever.In this moment I must inform you about small history. In Europe, in the youth category Serbia is No. 1, in junior category Serbia is No. 1, said Aleksandar Boricic, President of the European Volleyball Confederation. We wait for the result in the Olympic Games if the senior team can be No. 1. Its a great future, they have many young players. In this kind of competition, Olympic Games, world championships, sometimes you need more lucky balls.Spains Susana Rodriguez and Patricia Rolf of the U.S. made the first all-female referee tandem for an Olympic gold-medal match. Cheap MLB Jerseys China . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Cheap MLB Jerseys Free Shipping . -- PGA TOUR Canada member Steve Saunders took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Web. http://www.cheapmlbjerseysusa.com/ . John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and Kyle Okposo were also being counted on to slow down sizzling Rangers forward Rick Nash. That plan didnt go so well early. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . Louis. To which I would say two things: 1. Where there is smoke, there is or perhaps has been a little fire. Or, in other words, the two teams would appear to have at least spoken. And spoken is defined as one calling the other to inquire, no more, no less. Cheap Nike MLB Jerseys . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.Teenager Patrick Roberts scored twice as Celtic strengthened their grip on the Scottish Premiership title race, with the Hoops coming from behind to beat Hearts 3-1. The 19-year-old on-loan midfielder displayed his excellent technique with clinical finishes in each half, although the visitors will have felt aggrieved not to have reached the break on level terms. Round-up: United win again Hope springs eternal for Dundee United after another win Hearts also ended the game with 10 men after Juwon Oshaniwa was dismissed in second half injury time, and it was the visitors who took the lead with the most simple of goals as early as the fifth minute. As the ball fell kindly to Jamie Walker on the edge of the penalty area, the forward steadied himself before calmly finding the top left-hand corner of the net with very little back-lift. The goal was the first by Hearts at Celtic Park for 296 minutes.Celtics first real effort came on 14 when Neil Alexander dived high to his right to push away a Leigh Griffiths free-kick.And from the resulting corner the hosts were level. With the visiting defence failing to clear the danger, the ball found its way to Gary Mackay-Steven who clinically dispatched it into the bottom right-hand corner of the net from 20 yards.As the game continued to sway from one end of the park to the other, Oshaniwa and Arnaud Djoum both had chances for Hearts while Griffiths was once again denied by Alexander. Jamie Walker (partiallyy hidden) gives Hearts an early lead in Glasgow And the Jambos came mighty close to regaining the lead in the 27th minute when a superb curling free-kick by Alim Ozturk clipped the top of the bar with Craig Gordon well beaten.ddddddddddddHowever, less than a minute after Juanma had wasted another glorious opportunity for Hearts, the hosts were ahead on 35.After Tom Rogic had battled to claim the ball 40 yards out, he slipped it through to Roberts who glided into the box before using the outside of his foot to steer it wide of Alexander.In first half stoppage time, Alexander kept his side in the contest a little longer after blocking a fierce Griffiths free-kick.Yet the game was all but up for the Edinburgh side early in the second half when Roberts broke into the box before clipping the ball into the bottom left-hand corner to leave Hearts two goals adrift.The remainder of the match was certainly less eventful than for most of the opening 45 minutes, with Celtic seemingly content to see the game out with the minimum of effort while Hearts appeared to accept their fate of a 12th defeat in 14 meetings with the Glasgow giants. Tempers fray at Celtic Park, although the match was generally played in a good spirit There was just enough time for Gordon to pull off an excellent 89th minute save from Abiola Daudas eight-yard header following Liam Smiths cross.But by then the points were well and truly in the pocket of Ronny Deilas team who are now seven points clear with as many games left to play.And with 92 minutes on the clock, Hearts were reduced to 10 men when Oshaniwa was a little unfortunate to collect his second yellow card of the day. ' ' '