USA, Italy Bulgaria, China, Brazil, Russia, Poland, Serbia advance to quarter-finals
The quarter-final line-up for the Men's Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Beijing was completed on the last day of Preliminary Round action Monday. USA, Italy, Bulgaria, China, Brazil, Russia, Poland and Serbia all advance to the last eight of the competition, while Venezuela, Japan, Germany and Egypt go home.
In Pool A, Bulgaria beat Venezuela 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-22) to finish third with a 3-2 win-loss record, Italy (4-1) held on to beat hosts China (2-3) in five sets (25-17, 25-23, 21-25, 20-25, 16-14) for second place in front of 12,500 spectators at Capital Indoor Stadium and USA downed Japan in straight sets (25-18, 25-12, 25-21).
In Pool B, Brazil (4-1) extinguished Germany's hopes of advancing with a straight sets victory (25-22, 25-21, 25-23), Poland (4-1) rocked Russia (4-1) with a five-set win (17-25, 26-24, 24-26, 25-23, 15-12) watched by 12,000 and Serbia (2-3) blanked win-less Egypt 25-16, 25-13. 25-17 for the fourth quarter-final spot from the pool.
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