Serbia clinches last spot in finals as intercontinental round nears end

(BEIJING, July 20) -- Serbia defeated France 25-20, 25-22, 12-25, 25-17 on Saturday, completing the two-match sweep they needed to clinch a spot in the FIVB World League final round. Brazil, who has been guaranteed a spot in the finals as the host, defeated Venezuela in straight sets for the second straight day to bring pool A to a close.

France entered the weekend needing just one win to reach the finals. They nearly got the victory on Friday, going up two sets but falling in five to a resilient Serbian team. France seemed like they might return the favor on Saturday after dropping the first two sets and then convincingly winning the third set 25-12. But their comeback fell short and the Serbians booked their ticket to the finals in Brazil with a 25-17 fourth set victory.

The other final round spot up for grabs over the weekend was in pool D. Poland, needing just one win to clinch, ended the suspense in convincing fashion on Friday evening, defeating Egypt 25-21, 25-21, 25-16.

The rest of the weekend matches were either a tune-up for the final rounds, or an opportunity for teams to get more match experience with the Olympics just three weeks away.

China, who saw their final round hopes end after Poland beat Egypt on Friday, fell to Japan 24-26, 20-25, 13-25 on Saturday. The teams meet again on Sunday to finish pool D competition. Japan will finish third in the pool but has been selected as the wild-card team for the final round.

The Republic of Korea needed five sets in their last match of the intercontinental round to get their first win of the tournament. The 20-25, 17-25, 25-19, 25-23, 15-13 win gives the team a 1-13 final record. Russia, who already locked up a spot in the finals before the weekend, finishes the intercontinental round with a 10-2 record. Italy and Cuba play the final match of the pool on Sunday.

The United States also came into the weekend with a final round spot guaranteed. They finish at the top of pool C despite losing two in a row to second place Bulgaria over the weekend. Bulgaria won Saturday's match 25-20, 20-25, 25-20, 35-33 and falls one point short of the top spot. Finland beat Spain on Saturday 25-17, 25-15, 25-19.

The final round of the FIVB World League begins on July 23 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and concludes Sunday, July 27.