Beijing Olympic Games

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By ANNE M. PETERSON, AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP)—The Russian men’s volleyball team advanced Wednesday to the semifinal round of the Beijing Games with a 3-1 victory over Bulgaria.

Russia went up 20-15 in the second set after Plamen Konstantinov’s spike for Bulgaria was ruled out. Bulgarian coach Martin Stoev was warned after complaining to referees and pointing to the video scoreboard replay.

Stoev got a yellow card for the outburst, and Russia was awarded another point.

Russia went on to win the set on Yury Berezhko’s block.

“I’m a little bit disappointed about some of the referee decisions made during the set,” Konstantinov said. “There were three points in a row that he gave to Russia. The referee called me over and said that our coach would get a yellow card if he continued to talk to the second referee, and after I turned around he gave the coach a yellow card. This gave Russia the chance to wake up. It was the most important moment of the match.”

The Bulgarians, despite the constant urging of middle blocker Evgeni Ivanov, could not could mount any kind of rally. Russia won it (20-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-21) on Sergey Tetyukhin’s successful block of Konstantinov’s spike.

Russia, ranked second in the world behind Brazil, will play the winner of the day’s late match between the United States and Serbia.

Bulgaria’s run in Beijing was marked by drama involving Konstantinov. The Bulgarian captain missed the team’s first three matches while he went home to Bulgaria to get a drug test, after rumors swirled about possible doping.

Anger over what transpired in the second set against Russia only added to the Olympic odyssey for the Bulgarians.

“I do not understand it,” Konstantinov said, shaking his head. The Bulgarian captain has said Beijing would be his last Olympics.

Russian coach Vladimir Alenko, meanwhile, praised the Bulgarian team for its tenacity.

“We Russians need difficulties in order to overcome them,” he said. “That’s what happened in this game.”

Maxim Mikhaylov led Russia with 17 points, while Matey Kaziyski had 24 for Bulgaria.

Russia won the bronze medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Italy defeated Poland 3-2 (25-19, 25-22, 18-25, 26-28, 17-15), also advancing to the semifinals.

The Polish team forced a deciding set when Michal Winiarski aced to give Poland the fourth. The tense final was even at 15, when Valerio Vermiglio’s hit fell unreturned, and Matteo Martino’s successful spike won it.

In the semifinals, Italy will face the winner of a late quarterfinal match between Brazil and China at Capital Indoor Stadium.