Russia took their winning run at the FIVB Volleyball World Championship for Women to six games when they defeated Puerto Rico 3-0 in their opening Pool F match in Osaka on Wednesday.

After a 5-0 record in Pool B in Sapporo, the Russians continued where they left off against the brave but outclassed Puerto Ricans to score a 25-16, 25-10, 25- victory.

Russia improved to 4-0 in the Pool F second round with three matches remaining while the defeat probably ended Puerto Rico's hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

Russia won the first five points of the first set on Elena Godina's serve and then cruised to an 8-5 lead without really having to do anything special.

The game appeared to be played at half-pace as both teams tried to re-group after the two-day break between the first and second rounds.

Karina Ocasio was Puerto Rico's most effective attacker in the early stages while Russia, as usual, relied on the likes of Elena Godina, Ekaterina Gamova and Lioubov Shashkova for their offensive points.

While Russia were clearly the superior team, they were also giving away easy points through poor serves or simply failing to defend soft attacks from the Puerto Ricans.

They were good for their 16-10 second time-out lead but the Puerto Ricans stage a mini-fightback to 17-14 thanks to some slack Russian defending.

Russia lifted their game sufficiently to go on a five-point run with Shashkova's winning block sealing the set for her team.

The early stages of the second set again saw the Russians playing at a stroll.

With Puerto Rico leavings holes in midcourt, Russia hardly needed to spike and won many points with subtle tip-overs into empty space.

From 8-5, Russia extended their lead to 16-8 without much effort. Puerto Rica's main threat was from Ocasio on the left, but she was almost always thwarted by Russia's solid defensive wall.

Victory in the second set was swift for Russia as they kept their opponents to only 10 points.

Puerto Rico led 2-0 in the third set, their only period of advantage in the match thus far.

But Shashkova and Gamova quickly brought Russia back into a 4-2 lead, which they never gave up.

The end came when Godina smashed a winner to mid-court.