The Australian women's volleyball team has made a winning start to the Asian Championships in China, beating the Philippines 3-1 in their opening match.
The Australians are without top point scorer Rachel Rourke and several other players from last year's Grand Prix campaign.
But with the experience of Swiss-based Lauren Bertolacci and Victorian libero, Rebecca Walters, the Australians took control from the start in Tianjin on Wednesday.
The Australians took the first two sets 25-18, 25-18, but then found themselves down 11-16 in the third before staging a remarkable comeback to take the lead at 19-18.
The Philippines held on to take the third set 26-24, but were no match for a rampant Australia in the fourth, the Volleyroos taking the set 25-15 and the match 3-1.
Australia goes into the championships ranked ninth in Asia, and next take on number three ranked South Korea on Thursday, before rounding out their group against the fifth ranked Kazakhstan.
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