The Australian men's volleyball team stunned the Netherlands in straight sets on Friday to move a step closer to a historic berth in next week's World League finals in Italy.
Australia will play France on Saturday night in Sydney, with the French also convincing straight-sets winners over Belgium in the other semi-final.
The Volleyroos went into the semi-finals as underdogs, earning their place as the host nation even though they finished bottom of their qualifying group.
But in a further sign the Australians have timed their run to perfection, the home side followed on from their clean sweep over Canada last weekend with a comprehensive victory over the Dutch.
After a hard-fought 25-23 win in the opening set, 212cm Tom Edgar and captain Aidan Zingel combined to lift the Volleyroos to some of their best form of the year in the second set, crushing the visitors 25-12.
When Australia opened up a 4-0 lead at the top of the third, it looked all over but the Dutch clawed their way back to save two match points before eventually losing 27-25.
"It's a fantastic result in a do-or-die contest," Zingel said.
"Last weekend definitely helped. If we could play at the level we played in the second set all the time, it would be fantastic. That's what we dream of doing."
Australia play France at Homebush on Saturday (8pm AEST), with the winner to fly to Italy on Sunday to contest the World League finals. Belgium will play the Netherlands for third.
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