Japan fell to a 1-1 record at the men's Olympic volleyball qualification tournament on Sunday with errors, particularly on service, and China's stout central blocking proving too much for the hosts, who went down in straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-23).
Japan could not get any sort of foothold in the match, dropping each set in unfortunately similar fashion at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. Despite scoring more points on attack (44 to 35), Japan's 23 errors — and China's 14 points off blocks — left the home fans little to cheer.
"We made mistakes and let the opposition play good volleyball. When we were toiling, we tried to regain ground through our service, but today it didn't function," said Japan captain Kunihiro Shimizu who finished with a game-high 16 points.