Praia face Minas determined to recover after consecutive setbacks

Just over a month away from representing Brazil at the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's Club World Championship, Dentil Praia Clube want to start turning their season around this weekend, during the fourth leg of the 2025-2026 Brazilian Women's Superliga regular season.

Coming from back-to-back road losses, the team from Uberlândia will return home on Friday and have a big match in front of them, facing in-state rivals Gerdau Minas in one of the most exciting Derbies of Brazilian volleyball, which is set to start at 21:00 local time (00:00 UTC, Saturday).

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After earning victories in the first two legs of the regular season, Praia went on a road trip to Rio de Janeiro, where they struggled in consecutive matches, being swept by SESC RJ Flamengo on Friday in the third leg and falling to Fluminense in four sets on Tuesday in an anticipated match of the ninth leg. With that, despite being the only team in the league with four matches already completed, Praia rank fifth in the standings, with six points (two wins, two losses).

The team from Uberlândia kept some of their most important players from last season, such as Olympic champion middle blocker Adenizia Ferreira and Olympic medalists Macris Carneiro (setter) and Natália 'Natinha' Araújo (libero), but has signed international players who are still settling in the team, such as American opposite Morgahn Fingall and Bulgarian outside hitter Maria Koleva.

Fingall showed progress against Fluminense, tallying a team-high 19 points, but Portuguese head coach Rui Moreira, another newcomer, saw her compatriot and outside hitter Payton Caffrey leave the match due to knee pain, and her presence in Friday's match is still uncertain.

The match in Uberlândia can also serve as a revenge for Praia, who fell to Minas in straight sets in the final of the Minas Gerais State Championship in October and saw their rivals win the title for a second-straight season.

Minas' start of the season has been more promising, as the team from Belo Horizonte won its first three Superliga matches, accumulating eight points and ranking third, behind Osasco São Cristovão Saúde and SESI Vôlei Bauru in the set ratio tie-breaker.

They also have a new coach in Italian Lorenzo Pintus and signed international players, such as Polish setter Julia Nowicka and Canadian outside hitter Hilary Johnson, to join the core formed by Olympic champion middle blocker Thaisa Menezes, Olympic medalist libero Nyeme Costa and national team middle blocker Julia Kudiess.

Minas, who have Johnson as their leading scorer with 39 points, followed by Thaisa, with 35, lost, however, starting opposite Amanda Marques for the season due to a knee injury, and will need their third international addition, Russian Maria Khaletskaya, to step up and fill her role.

First matches on Thursday

The fourth leg of the Superliga regular season starts on Thursday, when the first two matches will be played, both beginning at 18:30 local time (21:30 UTC) - Tijuca Tênis Clube vs. Flamengo and Renasce Sorocaba vs. Paulistano Barueri.

Brazilian Women’s Superliga – Match Schedule & Results

Two more matches will be held on Friday, with Sancor Maringá Vôlei hosting Brasília Vôlei at 18:30 (21:30 UTC) and Osasco meeting Batavo Mackenzie one hour later. SESI Bauru and Fluminense complete the schedule on Sunday, at 19:30 (22:30 UTC).

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