China and Cuba opened their Beilun Cup women's volleyball tournament campaigns on a winning note Wednesday. Yet, in totally different fashion.

Reigning Olympic champion China crushed the Netherlands in straight sets, while the Cubans fought back from 2-0 down in sets to outlast the Dominican Republic in a five-set thriller.

The Chinese proved too strong for their European rivals and took the first two sets comfortably, 25-16 and 25-18.

The Dutch women refused to give in and stepped up pressure in the third set. A number of unforced errors on the Dutch side, however, allowed China to close out it at 26-24.

Sun Xiaoqing, who made her debut in the Chinese starting line-up, scored a game-high 15 points, and 11 of them from spikes. Flier Manon was the leading scorer for the Dutch team with 11 points.

Earlier in the day, the Dominican Republic squandered a two-set lead to lose to Cuba 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 18-20.

The Dominicans controlled the early stages of the match against a strangely subdued Cuba.

But the Cubans can never be written off, and Calerdon Diaz Rosir (17 points, 14 spikes) and Yumilka Ruiz Luaces (16 points, 13 spikes) led the response.

Lead changes were the theme of the fifth set, as both teams battled hard for the decider. Cuba set up a 13-10 lead before the Dominicans surged back ahead 16-15, but was unable to finish off the Cubans. Leading at 19-18, Cuba eventually emerged the winners after Rosir jumped from the left to smash a kill.

Rosir led the Cuban with 17 points, and Milagros Cabral De La Cruz top-scored for the Dominican Republic with 21 points.

On Thursday, The Netherlands takes on Cuba and China faces the Dominican Republic.

Source: Xinhua