Praia get back on Alianza to win third South American title

Brazilian giants Dentil Praia Clube triumphed in the 2025 edition of the Volleyball Women’s Club South American Championship, which came to an end on Tuesday, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and booked their tickets to compete in the 2025 FIVB Women’s Club World Championship.

The Uberlândia side topped Peru’s Alianza Lima, who also qualified for the Club World Championship, 3-0 (25-15, 25-12, 25-19) to secure their third continental title, following victories in 2021 and 2023. Hosts Gerdau Minas completed the podium in third place.

• Watch the 2025 FIVB Women's Club World Championship live on VBTV

With the result, Praia, who finished fourth in the 2024 edition of the Club World Championship, will get to compete in the event for the seventh straight time later this year. Alianza, on the other hand, made history by becoming the first Peruvian club to secure a spot in the tournament.

Tuesday’s gold medal match in Belo Horizonte was like payback for Praia, who had fallen to Alianza on Sunday, in the last match of Pool B. The upset made the team advance in second place for the semifinals and face Minas, preventing the Brazilian giants from meeting in the final for a seventh straight time.

Olympic champion middle blocker Adenízia Ferreira had a tremendous performance in the gold medal match, registering 16 points with an impressive ten blocks, five kills and one ace. She was then crowned as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.

“This was a team win, we wouldn’t have done it without any of our players,” the middle blocker said. “We’ve been very focused since the semifinals and this is the mindset we need to have until the end of the season. We’re very happy and everyone deserves to be congratulated. Alianza surprised a lot of people, they were tough to beat and created problems for everyone here. I’m happy to see South American volleyball getting stronger.”

Outside hitters Payton Caffrey and Sofya Kuznetsova also had solid displays, producing 13 and 11 points, respectively. On Alianza’s side, outside hitter Aixa Vigil came off the bench and ended the match with 11 points scored.

The tournament’s Dream Team had Praia’s Macris Carneiro at setter, Minas’ Kisy Nascimento at opposite, Praia’s Caffrey and Alianza’s Ysabella Sánchez at outside hitter, Praia’s Adenízia and Alianza’s Julieta Lazcano at middle blocker and Alianza’s Esmeralda Sánchez at libero.

Minas finish third

Defending champions Minas had to settle for third this time after falling to Praia in the semifinals after having won the first two sets. The team rebounded to beat Argentina’s Estudiantes 3-0 (25-14, 25-5, 25-16) on Tuesday’s bronze medal match, but didn’t have a lot to celebrate after not qualifying for the Club World Championship for the first time since 2017.

“It’s the end of the season now, so we need to show more desire to win,” said Olympic champion middle blocker Thaisa Menezes, the match’s top scorer with 16 points. “It’s not time to slow down. Each of us need to look back and understand where we can do better. It’s not the time to point fingers, but look internally and work harder. If we do that, I’m sure we’re going to be OK.”

Uruguay’s Barbato defeated Chile’s Murano 3-2 (21-25, 11-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-7) on Monday to finish fifth. Bolivia’s San Martin ranked seventh.

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