Bulgaria recovered from an opening set loss to beat the Turks 20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-27, 15-12 in the Italian city of Trieste.

The result strengthens Buglaria's hopes of advancing from Pool B into the second round.

But despite that upset, many of the other powerhouses in women's volleyball managed to keep their powder dry and maintain their 100 per cent records.

Among them were hosts Italy, who thrashed Argentina 3-0 in Rome.

Defending champions Russia, who along with Italy, Brazil and China have yet to drop a set, beat Kazakhstan 3-0 in Verona.

Three of the 12 matches played today went to a decider, with the other nine were decided in straight sets.

The Dominican Republic raced to a two set lead before being pegged back by Croatia, who narrowly lost the decider ©Getty Images for FIVB



The Dominican Republic held on to their undefeated record by narrowly edging Croatia, having gone two sets up, 25-22, 25-13, 22-25, 24-26, 19-17 in Rome.

Azerbaijan also won their second tiebreaker of the Championship, overcoming Puerto Rico 25-20, 24-26, 26-24, 15-25, 17-15.

Day three also saw wins for Germany over Tunisia, Brazil over Canada, Serbia over Cameroon and Thailand over Mexico.

Japan, who hosted the 2010 tournament, beat Cuba in straight sets, while the United States made light work of The Netherlands and China beat Belgium 3-0.

Tomorrow is a rest day, with play continuing on Saturday (September 27) with 12 matches scheduled.