Campinas and Praia fight for second place, Goiás and SESI clash for seventh and Joinville and São José battle to avoid relegation
Published 03:00, 13 Mar 2026
Campinas and Praia met at the Club World Championship in December
With the 2025-2026 Brazilian Men's Superliga regular season nearing its end, direct duels can make a big impact on teams' fates, and the ninth leg of the second round is set to feature as many as three of those over the next few days.
Between a duel for second place, a battle that should have big implications in the playoff race and an encounter that could determine the second relegated team, there will be a lot to watch for between Saturday and Tuesday.
Starting from the upper half of the standings, the duel between second-place Vôlei Renata Campinas and third-placed Praia Clube, set to start at 18:30 local time (21:30 UTC), is the one to watch on Saturday. Only three points separate the teams in the standings - Campinas have 42 and Praia 39 - and they could switch spots depending on how things go.
Campinas get to Saturday's encounter in excellent form, after winning their last seven matches across all competitions and lifting the trophies of both the South American Championship and the Brazilian Cup over the last two weeks. They passed Praia for second place on Wednesday, thanks to a road win over Suzano Vôlei.
Praia, on the other hand, dropped two of their last three Superliga matches and see Saturday's encounter as possibly their last chance to make a push to move up in the standings before the end of the regular season.
Campinas came out on top in both encounters involving the teams this season, winning in the first round of the Superliga regular season and the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship.
Two other matches will be held on Saturday, with sixth-placed Azulim Sicoob Aracoop Monte Carmelo facing fourth-placed Itambé Minas at 18:00 (21:00 UTC) and league leaders Sada Cruzeiro meeting fifth-placed Vôlei Guarulhos Bateubet at 21:00 (00:00 UTC, Sunday).
Heavily involved in the race to qualify for the playoffs, seventh-placed Saneago Goiás Vôlei (27 points) and eighth-placed SESI Bauru (26) feature in another direct battle, on Sunday, at 21:00 (00:00 UTC, Monday). The winners will take a massive step towards qualifying, while also having the ability to end the week in fifth place depending on other results.
Once the Superliga sensations, Goiás are going through a difficult run of form in the tournament right now, having lost four of their last five matches.
SESI are slightly better, with two wins in their last five matches, and have a big opportunity to take points from a higher-ranked opponent and help their playoff push.
Their encounter in the first round of the regular season had Goiás prevailing in the tie-breaker, but SESI were the winners of the four previous matches.
Earlier on Sunday, at 18:30 (21:30 UTC), ninth-placed Suzano will be at home against 12th-placed and already relegated JF Vôlei.
The last match of the week, on Tuesday, at 19:00 (22:00 UTC), could settle the battle to avoid relegation, reuniting the only two teams threatened by it, tenth-placed Joinville Vôlei (21 points) and 11th-placed Viapol Vôlei São José (17).
Joinville hold the cards here, as a 3-0 or 3-1 road win on Tuesday will extend the gap between the teams to seven points, confirming their permanence in the Brazilian elite for another season. The home team, São José need to win at any cost to stay alive, preferably in three or four sets, which would get them only one point behind their rivals.
Coming from three straight wins in the Superliga, Joinville won the first-round match involving the teams in the tie-breaker. São José enter Tuesday's duel coming from back-to-back upsets.
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