MOSCOW (AP) _ Russia and Bulgaria won again Thursday to lead their groups after two days of play at the World League volleyball finals.
Late substitute Sergey Baranov scored six points in the decisive fifth set and Sergey Tetyukhin spiked the winner to lift Russia to a 25-23, 21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-10 win over France.
Bulgaria, which upset Brazil in straight sets Wednesday, scored another three-set win, beating Serbia-Montenegro 26-24, 25-20, 26-24.
Earlier, Olympic and world champion Brazil defeated Italy 25-14, 17-25, 25-19, 25-21 to stay in contention for its fourth straight League title.
``We knew the strength of the French team,'' Russian captain Konstantin Ushakov said. ``They beat us two times in the fifth set at the preliminary round so it was crucial for us to win today.''
``We have chosen the hardest road to victory today,'' Russia coach Zoran Gajic said. ``But I'm more satisfied with the win than the game we've played.''
Bulgaria and Serbia-Montenegro were level 24-24 in the first and third sets, and both times Bulgarian captain Kostadin Stoykov scored to earn his team a set point.
``It was a very important match for us with a very strong opponent,'' Bulgaria head coach Martin Stoev said, adding ``we have not only a group of strong individuals _ we have a very strong team.''
Andra Nascimento scored 16 points for Brazil, including three of the team's six aces in the match.
``We played much better today and we served better then yesterday,'' Brazil head coach Bernardo Rezende said.
Italy coach Gianpaolo Montali blamed the serving. ``We paid much attention to the receiving but had certain problems in serving. You can see the result,'' he said.
Russia leads Group E with four points, followed by France with three. Bulgaria tops Group F, followed by Brazil.
Eight-time winner Italy and Serbia-Montenegro, runner-up last season, remain winless after two days with two points each.
Six teams will play round-robin matches in two groups and every team will also play the team of the same seeding from the opposite group. The two best teams from each group will earn a berth in Saturday's semifinals.
