Semifinalists Poland, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands will all take part in elite annual tournament scheduled to take place from August 6-29, 2010. There they will join defending champion Brazil, China, Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea, Poland, Puerto Rico, Thailand and the United States.

The semis for the European championship will take place on Saturday in Lodz, Poland, with the Netherlands facing the hosts and Italy taking on Germany in the late match.

At the Atlas Arena on Thursday, 13,000 fans watched as Poland overcame a strong challenge from Bulgaria to win in four sets 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-23). That victory coupled with Russia’s 3-2 (25-19, 19-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12) loss to the Netherlands earlier in the day left the hosts with a berth in the Final Four.

“Luckily for us, we won this game and will play in the semis,” said Polish coach Piotr Makowski. “To have a chance to beat the Netherlands, we have to receive much better than in the first match against them and our service pressure has to be much stronger.”

Russia had a chance to qualify for the semifinals but needed to beat the still undefeated Netherlands to do so. The Russians came close, but fell in the tiebreaker (much to the delight of vocal pro-Poland crowd). Ekaterina Gamova of Russia scored 37 points, while Manon Flier led the Dutch offense with 27 points.

“It's an amazing feeling to play in front of such a public,” said Dutch captain Flier. “We felt like we were at home today, even though I regret we don't have such Volleyball-crazy fans in Holland. We are very happy we finished this stage in great style and without losing a game.”

Also on Thursday, Spain defeated Belgium 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13).

The winner of the continental title will also qualify for this November’s FIVB Women’s World Grand Champions Cup in Japan.

Visit the official website of the 2009 CEV Orlen European Championships: www.mekobiet2009.pl/en