Serbia celebrated a 3-2 victory over defending champion the United States on Wednesday to progress to the semifinals of the women's Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2022.

Serbia emerged on the winning end of a five-set battle to claim the win 29-27, 25-23, 20-25, 20-25, 15-13 to book the spot after Brazil advanced to the final four by defeating Japan 3-1 (29-27, 28-26, 20-25, 25-14) at the same court.

The five-set quarterfinal produced 35 blocks, 21 for the United States and 14 for Serbia. Serbian outside hitter Sara Lozo delivered the match high of 22 points, including four stuffs and three of the team's six aces, followed by U.S. captain Kelsey Robinson with 21 points and Ana Bjelica of Serbia with 20.

"We prepared for it very well, played with a feeling, with a focus, and gave our maximum. We are always prepared to go five (sets), because we never lose five. It's incredible!" said Ana Bjelica, opposite and captain of Serbia. "To beat the USA, the best team in the world at the moment, is really difficult."

Brazil was the first team to secure the semifinal spot. Outside hitter and captain Gabriela Guimaraes (Gabi) led the scorers with 23 points, followed by opposite Kisy Nascimento with 20 and Julia Bergmann with 17. Nascimento and middle blocker Ana Carolina Da Silva each produced four of the team's 16 blocks in the match, against a total of six for Japan.

"The match against Japan was like this: you attack one time, two times... The rally goes on for over a minute... So you need to be pushing all the time, physically and mentally," said Gabi.

"We came back from behind in the first two sets and lost the third set," said the captain. "We keep our energy, and take a breath and push everything we have in the fourth set and this is what made the difference. We need to bring it forward in the semifinals too."

The other two quarterfinals will take place on Thursday. China will meet Italy and the host Turkey will battle with Thailand. 

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