The two most-recent Olympic champions faced off in an epic opening match at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Just when it looked like the Americans were out--down two sets to love--they pulled it back in with an incredible performance in sets three and four to force a tiebreaking fifth set. 

They pushed China to the brink, but in the end fell two points shy of completing an amazing comeback, dropping the first match of their quest for back-to-back golds. 

Both teams played incredible defense in the first set as it seemed like the ball just refused to hit the floor. Things went back-and-forth early, but China began taking control of the set when they got up 18-14. After the US brought it back to 18-17, China went on a 8-3 run to close out the set 25-20.

The Americans played great defensively in the first set, posting 17 digs, but they were their own worst enemy, gifting China six points on errors. 

In the second set the Americans started turning to Annie Drews to get the attack going as she scored three straight points with big-time swings and got them out to an early 7-5 lead. However, China answered in a big way as it quickly grew a 17-11 lead with a great combination of attack and defense. Zhu Ting was dominant in attack with 11 points through two sets, while China's 6'7" middle blocker, Yuan Xinyue, made life extremely difficult for the Americans with 3 blocks through two. 

The Americans continued to get in their own way with six more errors in the set. In the end it was a dominant performance from China to win the set 25-19. 

Up against the brink, Team USA came flying out of the gates in the third. With the score tied 4-4, the Americans went on a 6-2 run to get out to a nice lead early. That domination continued throughout the set behind big swings from Drews and some incredible defense by the likes of Justine Wong-Orantes. Head coach, Karch Kiraly, turned to two debutants, Avery Skinner and Kathryn Plummer, to bring life to the attack and it worked beautifully. What Kiraly called their "slugger lineup" led the way to a 25-17 set win. 

In the fourth set, China took a 13-10 advantage and seemed to be back in the groove. However, the Americans responded with four straight points to re-take the lead. Drews and Skinner led the way with some ginormous swings from either wing to really spark the offense. Under pressure with the score tied at 18, Team USA scored finished the set on a 7-2 run to force a decisive fifth set. Fittingly, it was Drews--who had 23 points through four sets--that killed it off with yet another massive swing to make it 25-20. 

With the Americans leading 8-7 in the fifth, China pulled ahead with four straight points to take an 11-8 lead. From there, the middle of the Chinese defense and attack was just too much for the Americans to handle. Even though the Americans saved two match points, China fittingly finished it off with a kill from Zhu to take the set 15-13 and the match 3-2. 

Li Yingying led the way for China with 26 points, while Drews was the leading scorer in the match with 29 points, including 26 kills on 51 swings. 

Team USA does come away from the match with a point by forcing a fifth, but China goes top of the group with two points. Next up for the Americans is another tough matchup with Serbia at 11 a.m ET Wednesday, while China gets France on Thursday at 3 p.m.