(BEIJING, August 19) -- The quarterfinals of the Men's Volleyball tournament will take place on Wednesday, August 20, with the United States and Brazil entering the round as winners of their respective pools and a showdown between Bulgaria and Russia expected to provide a thrilling start to the day.

　　The last time Bulgaria and Russia met was at the 2007 World Cup, which Bulgaria won in five sets. In the prelims, Russia overcame mighty Brazil in Pool B but stunned themselves and the crowd by losing in five sets to Poland. Bulgaria's captain, Plamen Konstantinov, returned from a medical leave to play the last preliminary match against Venezuela. His presence in the match against Russia will definitely boost the team's morale.

　　The second match of the day will be between Italy and Poland. Italy last played against Poland in the 2008 Olympic Qualification Tournament and lost in straight sets. The Polish team used an excellent attack and defense to defeat Russia in a five-set thriller in the prelims orchestrated by setter Pawel Zagumny.

　　World No.1 Brazil will compete with China, who was not expected to reach the quarterfinals but qualified by beating Venezuela and Japan in the preliminary round. Gold medal contender Brazil stunned the crowd with a four-set loss to Russia, but still came out on top of pool B after Russia's loss to Poland. China last played against Brazil in the 2005 Grand Champions Cup and lost in five sets.

　　The United States will meet Serbia to conclude the matches of the day. The US team, recent winner of the FIVB World League, was undefeated in the preliminaries and finished on top of pool A. The Unites States last played against Serbia in the 2008 World League where they lost in the prelims and defeated them in the gold medal match.