Skipper Aidan Zingel says the Volleyroos need to stop letting leads slip away if they want to stay competitive at the men's volleyball world championships.
The Australians lost three sets to one against France on Thursday, unable to reproduce July's five-set home turf victory over their European rivals.
Coach Jon Uriarte's unorthodox decision to start Olympians Tom Edgar, Harry Peacock, Travis Passier and Nathan Roberts on the bench initially paid off, with Australia surging to 6-3.
But poorly received serves and fumbled scoring chances meant the early lead slipped away.
For Zingel, the loss suggested a worrying trend of starting well, only to lose momentum.
"We did an exact repeat of last night's match," Zingel said, citing Australia's four-set loss to Iran on Wednesday.
"I'm not sure exactly why we keep doing this."
"It's something we need to fix before the last two matches of the tournament."
The Australians were able to regain some momentum in the third by saving several match points and taking the set 32-30.
But they couldn't hold on, losing the fourth 25-17.
Ultimately, France's 10 aces to Australia's three clinched the match.
"The team keeps trying, sometimes with some up and down," Uriarte said after the match.
"We are working still (to) solve many different situations."
The team will now have a rest day before taking on USA on Saturday (Sunday AEST).
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