The Italians followed up victories over Thailand and hosts Poland by beating Germany 25-19, 26-24, 27-25 at Stegu Arena in Opole.

Indre Sorokaite and Elena Pietrini were Italy's best scorers with points tallies of 15 and 11, respectively.

Today's other match in Pool One saw Poland defeat Thailand 25-20, 25-20, 25-13.

Another team finishing week one with an unblemished record were the United States in Pool Two.

They overcame hosts Bulgaria 25-20, 25-16, 25-21 at Arena Ruse. 

Earlier in the day, Belgium picked up their second Pool Two win after battling back to beat Japan 22-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18.

Competition also concluded in Pool Four at Aleksandar Nikolić Hall in Belgrade, where hosts Serbia fell to a straight-sets loss against Turkey, 19-25, 23-25, 20-25.

The result means Turkey finish with three wins out of three, while world champions Serbia have ended on two victories.

The Netherlands recovered from defeats against Serbia and Turkey by overcoming South Korea 25-18, 25-21, 25-18.

Completing today's action were the Pool Three games with hosts Brazil beating Russia 25-15, 25-17, 25-14 and China defeating the Dominican Republic 16-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23 at Nilson Nelson Gymnasium in Brasilia.

Brazil and the Dominican Republic both finished on two wins, while China and Russia had one each.

The pools will be rearranged again next week, with the same thing happening each week for five weeks. 

The top five teams after the end of the pool stage will qualify for the final round.

That will take place at Nanjing Olympic Sports Centre.

China automatically have a place in the final stage as hosts.