China's women's volleyball team went down 3-0 to Italy in their second group A match at the FIVB Montreux Volley Masters on Wednesday.

They missed the service of ace spiker Liu Xiaotong, who was injured. The experienced Italian side took full advantage of their depleted opponents to clinch the game in straight sets.

China surged ahead early on with a 6-1 lead before the Italians called for a timeout. After the adjustment, the Italian side strengthened its serves and showed its advantage at the net. Paola Egonu's heavy spike helped Italy level the score. 

Under Egonu's strong serves, the Italians played a wave of 10-2 to set the stage for the set win. With Egonu's powerful spike and China failing for the block, Italian led the game 20-14.

China was still struggling in the second frame as they played without their main force Zhu Ting and Liu Xiaotong. With China being weak against strong attacks, the Italian side led 4-2 thanks to their success in blocking Gong Xiangyu's spike at the net. 

With Liu Yanhan serving for the second frame point, Egonu, who had 18 points, came through with another heavy spike to win the second set 25-13.

China lost the third set 25-13 and overall 3-0. With one win and one loss, China will meet Turkey next.