China bounced back from an unexpected loss to the Netherlands in the first game to beat Italy in straight sets 25-21, 25-21, 25-16 on Monday in the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Star spiker Zhu Ting led the Chinese team with 12 points, including two aces. Middle blocker Xu Yunli also had 12 points with three blocks during the 74 minutes game.
Paola Ogechi Egonu had a game-high 22 points but she is the only Italian in double figures. The Italian team committed 24 errors while China made only 12.
China now had 1-1 win-loss record in the Pool B and they will face Puerto Rico in the next game, who suffered their second loss on Monday against Serbia with straight sets.
"It won't be an easy game for us," said China's head coach Lang Ping, "We have so many young players and they played a lot up and downs in our first two games."
Also on Monday, the United States overcame a resilient Netherlands side to claim their second victory in a Pool A match with a five-set win 18-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8. The victory improved USA win-loss record to 2-0 and dropped Netherlands to 1-1.
Kelly Murphy led the four Americans with double figures, she scored 18 points including 15 attacks and 3 block kills. Akinradewo and Jordan Larson concluded with 15 points each, while Kimberly Hill contributed 14
The USA struggled to find their winning trend in the first three sets. In the fourth, Murphy broke the tie at 18-18 with a big spike and the American finally found the way by winning seven of the last nine points. They outblocked the Netherlands in the fifth and closed it 15-8 with a spike, also by Murphy.
In other games on Monday, Russia outclassed South Korea 3-1 and host Brazil beat Agentina 25-16, 25-19 and 25-11 in a South American derby.
