MOSCOW (AP) _ Defending champion Brazil beat Russia, but the two teams will face off in a playoff rematch after both advanced to the semifinals of the World League volleyball finals on Friday.
Bulgaria defeated eight-time winner Italy 25-20, 29-27, 25-19 and was the only team not to drop a set in three matches.
Brazil won 15-25, 25-18, 13-25, 26-24, 15-12 and finished second to Bulgaria in Group F. In the other match, Bulgaria will play France, which advanced to its first World League semifinal despite losing to Serbia-Montenegro 26-24, 22-25, 25-19, 20-25, 18-16.
The teams tied for second place with four points each in group E, but France advanced on a better points ratio.
Bulgaria dominated the opening set but faced tough resistance from Italy in the end of the second set. Alessandro Paparoni killed a block and fired an ace to put Italy in the lead 23-21. But Bulgaria rallied and forced a tiebreaker. At 27-27, Bulgaria's best scorer, Matey Kaziyski, spiked for a set point and had a clear shot to close the set. He scored 14 points Friday for a total of 47 in three matches.
Italy was trailing in the third set and remained the only team to lose all three matches.
``It was important for us to close the match as quick as possible to save our shape for next matches,'' Bulgaria head coach Martin Stoev said.
Bulgaria reached the semifinals of the World League in 1994 and 2002 but never made the podium.
Ivan Milijkovic scored 27 points for Serbia-Montenegro, runner-up last season.
``It was important for us not to have three days in a row with losses,'' Serbia-Montenegro captain Nikola Grbic said.
``We finished with a win and it's a good sign for us in preparation for the upcoming world championships in Japan,'' said Serbia-Montenegro coach Ljubomir Travica.
Russia, which won the title in 2002, will be playing in its 12th semifinal.
In a new format of the World League finals, six teams played round-robin matches in two groups and each also played the team of the same seeding from the opposite group. The two best teams from each group qualified for the semis.
