Xu Yunli (L) and Zhang Changning of China compete in the Women's preliminary competition of Volleyball between China and Netherlands in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Aug 6, 2016. [Photo/Xinhua]

Zhu Ting led China with 24 points and 19-year-old Gong Xiangyu added 18, but some errors of the promising opposite spiker cost the Chinese women the victory.

"As an Olympic new comer, she played pretty well in the first four sets. In the fifth set, she made some unforced errors, but it's understandable. She is so young, she needs some more experience," Lang Ping said.

The Chinese women outblocked the Netherlands 15-9 and produced six aces, compared to three for the Netherlands, but still failed to claim an opening win in their Olympic campaign.

China will play Italy in their second pool B match on Monday while the Netherlands take on world champions the United States. Twelve teams are playing round robin preliminaries in two groups with top four finishers from each group to qualify for the quarter-finals.