Vissotto extends perfect campaign for Minas in Brazil

The team of Fiat Gerdau Minas remain the only undefeated squad in the 2021-2022 Brazilian Men’s Superliga at the conclusion of the seventh weekend of the championship on Saturday.

The Belo Horizonte-based club went to Sao Paulo to face SESI, the only other team in the country to have won their first six matches of the season, and returned home with all three points following a 3-1 (22-25, 25-20, 25-16, 31-29) victory that kept them as the only team with a perfect record in the tournament.

Minas had to endure the noticeable absence of team captain and setter William Arjona, a Rio 2016 Olympic champion, but saw another former Brazilian national team member emerge and play a pivotal role for the team.

A London 2012 Olympic silver medallist and a 2010 world champion, 38-year-old opposite Leandro Vissotto had a stellar performance for Minas, tallying a match-high 24 points (22 kills, one block, one ace) and received the player of the match award. The 2.12m-tall Vissotto is currently on his second stint with Minas, a club he previously played for in 2005-2006.

“It was a key victory for us as the first place was in play,” Vissotto reflected after the match. “We expected a tough match, but we prepared well and were really consistent with our play. I can only congratulate the team for coming here to SESI’s stadium and taking a win back home in a very difficult match.”

The veteran Vissotto also won a positional battle with a strong candidate to follow in his footsteps on the Brazilian national team, 19-year-old Darlan de Souza. The younger brother of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball World Cup’s Most Valuable Player Alan de Souza, Darlan produced 23 points (22 kills, one block), but his great performance wasn’t enough for the home team to come out on top.

With 21 points (seven wins), Minas will have to defend their top spot on Friday, when they face the hosts of the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Men’s Club World Championship, Sada Cruzeiro Volei, who have 20 points (seven wins, one loss). On Sunday, SESI will attempt to bounce back on the road against Azulim Gabarito Uberlandia.