Australian men's volleyball coach Roberto Santilli says his team have made the worst possible start to their Olympic qualifying campaign with a 3-0 loss to Asian rivals Iran in Tokyo.
There are eight teams competing in Tokyo for four Olympic positions, with Australia needing to be the top-placed Asian nation to guarantee a ticket in August to Rio.
But the Volleyroos on Saturday were outplayed from the beginning.
"We could not have expected to start worse," Santilli said.
"We had a problem with our rhythm. We are lucky there are six games left.
"We will try to reset with a different attitude and overcome this," Santilli said.
China, Japan and Iran are the other Asian teams vying for Olympic selection, alongside World League champions France, 2014 world championship winners Poland, Venezuela and Canada.
The top-three teams qualify automatically for Rio, and then the highest-ranked Asian team.
If an Asian country finish in the top three, the next best Asian team will also qualify.
But Australian captain Tom Edgar said his team had a lot of work to do.
"We are very disappointed with the start," Edgar said.
"We had good preparation for this match, and expected a lot. We did not have good rhythm immediately.
"They had a good serve and attack, and that made it difficult for us. We will learn what we can from this match and move on," Edgar said.
Australia's next match is on Sunday against Venezuela.
