China's young guns were given a stern test as they were forced to rally to defeat Argentina 3-1 in their second pool A match at the World Grand Prix women's volleyball tournament yesterday.
Having beaten Puerto Rico in straight sets on the opening day, the Chinese women found themselves one set down against the South Americans at the Macau Forum, but raised their game to win the match 23-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 in 90 minutes.
Coach Yu Juemin praised Argentina's performance, saying their two spikers did a good job penetrating China's defence. He also urged his charges to learn quickly from their experience at the international level as they build towards the London Games next month.
'We only started playing preparation matches in May against Italy and many of our young players need more exposure at the international level,' said the coach. 'This is a process they have to go through, but they have to pick up the pace as quickly as possible as time is running short.
'Against Argentina, we committed too many mistakes, especially in our serve, which should not happen in an event at this level.'
In the absence of injured spiker Wang Yimei, Yang Junjing and Hui Ruoqi had to share the attacking duties and they did not let their team down, respectively coming away with a team-high 16 and 15 points.