Minas and Flamengo duel for the top spot in the Superliga standings

A duel involving the teams ranked first and second in the 2025-2026 Brazilian Women's Superliga standings will be the highlight of the eighth leg of the second round of the regular season, which starts on Thursday.

League leaders Gerdau Minas and second-placed SESC RJ Flamengo are set to meet on Friday, at 21:30 local time (00:30 UTC, Saturday), in Belo Horizonte, in the last of the six matches scheduled for the next two days in Brazil.

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Minas, which have 47 points, emerged to the top of the standings in the seventh leg, and will now need to defend the top spot for the first time in a direct battle against Flamengo, the team they passed, which has 46 points. With only three legs left before the end of the regular season, a victory on Friday should put the winners in a good spot to head into the playoffs with the top seed.

Minas enter Friday's match in a six-match winning streak in the Superliga, which started in mid-January. In her first season with the team, Canadian outside hitter Hilary Johnson has been one of the team's standouts and is their leading scorer in the Superliga with 259 points.

Their opponents Flamengo are coming from arguably their toughest upset in the season, a home loss to Sancor Maringá Vôlei that cost them the top of the standings. With star outside hitter Simone Lee, the Superliga's top scorer with 349 points, making strides in her return to action after sustaining an ankle injury, the Rio de Janeiro side should be able to perform at a high level in Belo Horizonte on Friday.

The team's meeting in the first round of the regular season went to five sets and had Flamengo coming out on top. Minas, however, were the winners in six of the last ten matches.

First matches on Thursday

The eighth leg of the second round of the Superliga begins on Thursday, when the first three encounters will be held. Two of them are scheduled for 18:30 local time (21:30 UTC), with 12th-placed Renasce Sorocaba facing tenth-placed Brasília Vôlei and 11th-placed Tijuca Tênis Clube playing against eighth-placed Batavo Mackenzie.

Later, at 21:00 (00:00 UTC, Friday), fifth-placed and reigning South American champions SESI Vôlei Bauru play at home against seventh-placed Maringá.

Brazilian Women’s Superliga – Match Schedule & Results

The two remaining matches are scheduled for Friday, with third-placed Dentil Praia Clube meeting ninth-placed Paulistano Barueri at 18:30 (21:30 UTC) and recently crowned Brazilian Cup winners and fourth-placed Osasco São Cristovão Saúde going against sixth-placed Fluminense thirty minutes later.

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