Brazil's Jaqueline Carvalho dives as she saves a ball during a second round match against China at the FIVB women's Volleyball World Championship in Osaka, western Japan November 9, 2006. [Reuters]

Jacqueline Carvalho spiked for 20 points to lead the Brazilians to a 24-26, 20-25, 25-21, 25-16, 19-17 win over China.

Brazil improved to a perfect 5-0 in the second round while China fell to 2-3.

The Brazilians, who won their third straight World Grand Prix title in September and are looking to add a world title to their haul, got 18 points from Walewska Oliveira.

"This match was just like a grand final," said Brazil coach Ze Roberto. "We started slow but in the third set our serves became better, our blocking became better and we created good chances."

Azerbaijan upset the United States 25-19, 16-25, 25-22, 25-27, 15-13 to hand the Americans their second straight loss.

The United States saw its second-round record fall to 2-3 for fourth place. Azerbaijan improved to 1-4.

Russia maintained a perfect 5-0 record with a 25-17, 25-18, 25-16 win over the Netherlands (2-3) and Germany (3-2) beat Puerto Rico (0-5) 25-23, 25-22, 25-22.

The top two teams from Groups E and F will advance to the semifinals.

In Group E, defending champion Italy posted a 25-18, 25-19, 25-13 win over South Korea to improve to 4-1.

Captain Simona Rinieri-Dennis led the way for Italy with 14 points and Francesca Piccinini added 13.

"The team is getting better," said Rinieri-Dennis. "But I'm not sure if we have all played at our best at the same time yet."

Cuba downed Taiwan 25-21, 25-20, 25-14 to give both teams a 3-2 record.

The fifth-ranked Cubans have won the world championship three times, including twice in the 1990s. This is only the second appearance in the tournament for the 23rd-ranked Taiwanese, and first since 1990.

Serbia-Montenegro continued its impressive run with a 25-15, 25-22, 25-14 win over Poland to improve to 5-0.

The top four finishers in each of four six-team first-round groups advanced to the second round where each team's results against its fellow qualifiers from the first round count in the standings.