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Brazil and Poland showed no signs of slowing down with three wins in Week 4 to remain first and second in the table, while Russia and Slovenia gained traction in their Final Four campaigns with three and two match victories, respectively.

Slovenia charged into the picture as the dark horse in the competition as they challenged Brazil to play their lone five-setter of the tournament. But the reigning Olympic champions kept their winning run, while Poland gained full points from their three straight-set wins.

The Slovenians are in third place as they earned seven points off their five-set loss to Brazil and four-set victories over Australia and Iran, while Russia jumped to fourth place with their three wins and the boost from the losses of Serbia and France in the fourth round.

Brazil facing European sides

Brazil completed Week 3 with a perfect sweep, as Brazilian trio Wallace de Souza, Ricardo Lucarelli and Yoandy Leal teamed-up in scoring to claim a 3-0 triumph over reigning world champions Poland.

They showed resilience despite dropping sets in their encounters in Week 4, but they will face a tougher test with their all-European opponents in the final week of the preliminary round.

The lone defeat they had in the competition was a straight-set loss in the hands of European team France in Week 2, but they bounced back and have since kept their winning run.

The Brazilian wing spikers’ performances in Week 5 will be crucial as they will be put to the test against the tall blockers of Italy, Germany and Russia.

Wallace De Souza’s contribution will be valuable after leading his team in scoring in this year’s VNL. The opposite has been a great source of points since he joined the team in 2012, but to continue their great run they will need the consistency of the other hitters Yoandy Leal, Ricardo Lucarelli and Alan Souza.

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Five European teams in battle for final four spots

Poland are top among European squads and they are in solo second with 10 victories, thanks to their depth in strong hitters who had a good rotation in Week 4.

Coach Vital Heynen and his squad enjoyed the week without conceding any sets to their opponents as their veteran and young wingmen took care of the job in scoring.

With their best hitters fresh and well-rested before they face Argentina, Iran and France in Week 5, the reigning world champions have an edge to secure a spot in the final four.

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Slovenia emerged in third place despite their tie-break loss to Brazil that still gave them a point before they pinned the full points in their matches with Australia and Iran.

In both those encounters, Slovenia dropped the opening sets but responded to win the next three sets. Setter Gregor Ropret’s masterpiece sets highlighted the team’s great performance in the fourth week, while Klemen Cebulj benefitted the most as he was a consistent source of points.

The Slovenians will meet the United States, Japan and Bulgaria in Week 5.

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Russia have recovered from their losses to Japan, Poland, France and Slovenia in the first three weeks of competition and are back in form with their victories over Serbia, Argentina and Bulgaria in Week 4.

The Russians are now in fourth place with those three wins and from the boost from the French and Serbia losses that relegated them to fifth and sixth, respectively. They improved their record to 8-4.

Maxim Mikhaylov started the week with a powerful 23-point performance, then Egor Kliuka and Dmitriy Volkov responded as top scorers in the next two victories.

Russia are hoping to secure more victories when they face Germany, Italy and Brazil in Week 5 to stay on track for their title defence.

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Meanwhile, France and Serbia have identical 8-4 win-loss cards, following their tough losses in Week 4.

France lost tiebreakers to European opponents the Netherlands and Italy, while Serbia conceded in four sets against Russia and straight sets against Argentina.

Both squads are in must-win situations in Week 5.

France will play Iran, Argentina and Poland, while Serbia will go up against Australia, the Netherlands and Canada.