FIVB World Championship semifinal matches to follow today

Photo courtesy of the FIVB

The United States will have to go through the defending champions in order to win its first FIVB World Championship in more than 30 years.

Poland and the United States will play each other in the semifinals with the winner advancing to the gold-medal match. Check out all the FIVB World Championship semifinals to follow today and how to follow them live.

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United States (9-1) vs. Poland (8-2)
Match vitals:
9:15 p.m. (2:15 p.m. CDT) in Torino, Italy
Follow live: Live stats, Pay-per-view online video, In-match tweets
Recent meeting: United States swept Poland in the FIVB Volleyball Nations League in June.
FIVB World Championship titles: United States (1986); Poland (2014, 1974)
FIVB World Championship gold-medal match appearances: United States (1986); Poland (2014, 2006, 1974)
NCAA players on U.S. roster: Matt Anderson (Penn State 2006-08); Taylor Averill (Hawai’i 2012-15); Micah Christenson (USC 2012-15); Max Holt (Penn State 2006-09); Jeff Jendryk (Loyola 2015-18); Jake Langlois (BYU 2014-17); Dan McDonnell (UC Irvine 2011-12); Ben Patch (BYU 2013, 2016-17); Aaron Russell (Penn State 2012-15); Taylor Sander (BYU 2011-14); Kawika Shoji (Stanford 2007-10); Erik Shoji (Stanford 2009-12); David Smith (UC Irvine 2004-07); Dustin Watten (Long Beach State 2005-09)
NCAA players on Poland roster: None
U.S. player to watch: Taylor Sander has the tournament’s second-best offensive efficiency at 56.8 percent and has the tournament-best 38.4 percent excellent serve reception efficiency.
Polish player to watch: Bartosz Kurek is third in the tournament with 0.37 aces per game average.

Brazil (9-1) vs. Serbia (7-3)
Match vitals:
5 p.m. (10 a.m. CDT) in Torino, Italy
Follow live: Live stats, In-match tweets
FIVB World Championship titles: Brazil (2010, 2006, 2002); Serbia (none)
FIVB World Championship gold-medal match appearances: Brazil (2014, 2010, 2006, 2002, 1982); Serbia (none)
NCAA players on Brazil roster: None
NCAA players on Serbia roster: None