The rivals met in the South American Championship gold medal match last Sunday
Published 03:34, 08 Mar 2026
After falling to Goiás twice in the Superliga, Campinas took them down in the Brazilian Cup (Photo: CBV)
One week after featuring in the exciting five-set battle that determined the winners of the Club South American Championship, Vôlei Renata Campinas and Sada Cruzeiro are set to meet in another final on Sunday.
The two teams overcame the semifinals of the Brazilian Cup on Saturday and will return to Moringão Stadium in Londrina on Sunday at 20:30 local time (23:30 UTC) to play in the tournament's gold medal match.
For both teams, Sunday's final represents the opportunity of lifting a trophy for the third time in the 2025-2026 season. Campinas won the South American Championship and the São Paulo State Championship, while Cruzeiro triumphed in the Brazilian Supercup and the Minas Gerais State Championship.
In the first semifinal, Campinas managed to defeat Saneago Goiás Vôlei for the first time this season after going down twice in the Superliga and progressed with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-19) victory. The runners-up in 2015, 2016 and 2022, they will now go for their first Brazilian Cup title.
Led by Olympic champion setter Bruno Rezende, who earned the match's MVP award, Campinas counted on 13 points (nine kills, four blocks) from middle blocker Judson Nunes and 12 from each of outside hitters Maurício Borges and Adriano Xavier to overcome Goiás.
"Making it to another final after a physically and mentally draining last week in the South American Championship wasn't easy," Bruno said. "We only had a couple of days to recover, but I think we did a good job of understanding that we had another challenge in front of us when we got here in Londrina. Winning a national title is a big dream for many people in the club, and we'll go for it."
Outside hitter Robson 'Robinho' Rodrigues was Goiás' leading scorer in the match with ten points (eight kills, one block, one ace).
In the second semifinal, Cruzeiro delivered a strong performance to sweep (28-26, 25-19, 25-17) in-state rivals Praia Clube. With eight Brazilian Cup titles (2014, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024) under their belt, Cruzeiro will attempt to win the tournament for the ninth time in 13 editions.
In the semifinals, they counted on great teamwork to succeed as each of the team's five starting hitters got to double digits in scoring. Olympic champion outside hitter Douglas Souza led the way with 13 points, followed by opposite Welinton Oppenkoski (12), middle blockers Lucas Saatkamp (12) and Otávio Pinto (10) and outside hitter Rodrigo 'Rodriguinho' Leão (11).
"Losing the South American Championship after leading 2-0 in the final was a huge blow for us," Lucas, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Friday and earned the match's MVP award, reflected. "But I thought that we recovered well and today were much more stable with our side out, which is a big part of our game. We were a little tense at the start, but then we started smiling on the court and played very well."
With ten points scored, outside hitter Paulo Vinicios Silva and middle blocker Pietro Santos were Praia's top scorers in the match.
Sunday's final will mark the third encounter between the teams in the 2025-2026 season. Campinas won both the South American Championship final and a Superliga regular season duel, prevailing in the tie-breaker on both occasions.
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