China frustrate USA’s first step in Olympic title defense

The United States’ journey to defend their women’s volleyball Olympic title at the Paris 2024 Games hit a roadblock right at its start as the Americans were downed by China in the tie-breaker in their first match in the tournament, on Monday, at the South Paris Arena 1.

In a match reuniting the last two Olympic champions, the Asians had a better start, saw the Americans return to the game and delivered in the fifth set to secure an important 3-2 (25-20, 25-19, 17-25, 20-25, 15-13) victory in Pool A.

The two points earned with the result place the Chinese in second place in the pool standings - Serbia, who defeated France in the last match of the day, are first, with three. The Americans got one point in the match and rank third, ahead of the hosts.

China's third consecutive victory over the Americans also made the teams switch places in the FIVB World Rankings, with the Asians moving up to fifth place (348.65) points and the Olympic champions going down to sixth (342.34).

China relied on their strong outside hitter duo to get the points they needed to beat the Americans as left-handed Li Yingying tallied 26 (24 kills, two blocks) while Rio 2016 Olympic champion Zhu Ting added another 17 (all in kills), including the game-winner. Opposite Gong Xiangyu contributed 13 points in the triumph.

The most consistent American player on the court, opposite Annie Drews led all scorers with 29 points. Outside hitter Avery Skinner had a solid game off the bench, ending the match with 17. Middle blockers Chiaka Ogbogu and Haleigh Washington had 13 and 11, respectively.

"It was anybody's game in the tie-breaker," Skinner reacted. "China are a great team and we fought point for point. Of course it sucks to lose in the fifth set, but I'm really proud of us and how we fought the whole match. Coming off the bench I just tried to bring lots of good energy, smiles, joy... That's what we needed and so I think I came in and did that. Our focus now is on the Serbia match, we'll be ready for that."

China's victory was built from their efficiency as the Asians delivered just 11 points to their opponents in errors, while the Americans did the same 21 times. It was a close match in every other area of the game, with the Americans leading in kills (74 to 68) and aces (six to one) and the Chinese having the edge in blocks (12 to 11).

World champions Serbia top hosts France

Pool C's first round was completed a few hours later, when Serbia handled the pressure of over 10,000 excited fans (mostly French) to begin their campaign with a solid 3-0 (25-17, 25-17, 25-22) victory. It was the first match ever played by the French women's national team at the Games.

Star opposite Tijana Bošković was Serbia's most prolific offensive player, ending the match with 14 points to her name. Outside hitters Aleksandra Uzelac (13) and Bianka Buša (11) also got to double digits in scoring.

"It was incredible," middle blocker Hena Kurtagić revealed. "I felt a little nervous at the beginning but that was normal because it's my first Olympics and the veterans in the team helped me so much. It wasn't a perfect match, but we did well and showed who Serbia is and I hope that we continue at this level. It was nice to have this first match before facing the USA and China because we could adapt to the arena and feel more comfortable. I'm confident we'll play better and better as the tournament progresses."

On the French side, outside hitters Amélie Rotar and Halimatou Bah produced the most points, with 12 and ten respectively.

"What an amazing experience it was for our first Olympic match," Bah celebrated. "The atmosphere was incredible, the stadium was on fire. We played against one of the best teams in the world and I think we performed really well, but we made way too many errors. We have two more pool matches against China and the USA and they will both be very tough for us, but we'll do all we can to win them."

Women’s tournament resumes on Wednesday

No women’s matches will be held on Tuesday, with the tournament resuming on Wednesday, when the Americans meet Serbia at 17:00 local time (15:00 GMT) and Poland battle Kenya at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT). China's next match will be on

Paris 2024 – Match Schedule and Results

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