Weekend Review: Everything you missed and should know

The club season is reaching its climax in Italy as the SuperLega Credem Banca concluded its regular season, determining the eight teams that will compete in the league's postseason and the one that will be relegated to the country's second division in 2023-2024. On the women's side, the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile is also reaching a critical point with only four more weekends until the start of the playoffs.

National cups also completed their schedules in Brazil and Portugal, with the traditional Gerdau Minas lifting the trophy in the Women's Brazilian Cup and Lisbon giants Benfica and Sporting taking home the men's and women's titles in the Portuguese Cup.

Some of the top beach volleyball teams on the planet were in action last weekend as well, with the Brazilian Tour hosting its first stop of 2023 in Maringá and a handful of international teams competing in the King of the Court event in Miami.

If you didn't follow all of that over the last few days, here's all you need to know:

Volleyball

Minas claim third Brazilian Cup title

Led by past and present Brazilian national team stars such as Thaisa Menezes, Carol Gattaz, Kisy Nascimento and Pri Daroit, Gerdau Minas secured the title of the 2023 Brazilian Cup on Tuesday, winning the tournament for the third time. In the final, they topped in-state rivals and Brazilian Superliga leaders Dentil Praia Clube 3-1 (28-26, 25-18, 15-25, 25-17) with 25 points from Kisy. Get all the details in the Brazilian Federation’s recap.

Milano secure last SuperLega playoff spot

The regular season of the 2022-2023 SuperLega Credem Banca ended on Sunday and Allianz Milano secured the eighth and final spot in the playoffs - they will now play league leaders Sir Safety Susa Perugia on Saturday. In their 22nd match in Italian League, Milano defeated Gioiella Prisma Taranto in straight sets, but their opponents also had reason to celebrate as they still overcame Emma Villas Aubay Siena and avoided relegation. Check out our recap will all the information.

Conegliano continue to cruise in Italy’s A1

Defending champions Prosecco Doc Imoco Volley Conegliano continue in top form in the Lega Pallavolo Serie A1 Femminile. The reigning world champions extended their advantage at the top of the standings with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 25-13) victory over fourth-placed Igor Gorgonzola Novara in the biggest match of the weekend in the country. Conegliano have now 21 wins in 22 matches and are undefeated in their last 23 matches, including all competitions.

Benfica and Sporting dominate the Portuguese Cup

Lisbon giants Benfica and Sporting won the men's and women's titles of the Portuguese Cup on Sunday. Benfica lifted the trophy for a record 20th time with a straight-set (25-21, 25-19, 25-18) victory over Associação de Jovens da Fonte do Bastardo. Sporting, on the other hand, needed five sets (25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-13) to overcome AJM/FC Porto and take their third Portuguese Cup title and the first since 1986. Know more about Benfica's and Sporting's victories with info provided by the Portuguese Federation.

Halkbank, Zaksa, Trentino and Jastrzebski get a head start in Champions League’s quarters

Teams from three different countries won the first-leg matches of the CEV Men’s Champions League this week, with Türkiye’s Halkbank Ankara topping Italy’s Cucine Lube Civitanova, Poland’s Grupa Azoty ‘Zaksa’ Kędzierzyn-Koźle and Jastrzebski Wegiel overcoming Italy’s Itas Trentino and Germany’s VfB Friedrichshafen respectively and Italy’s Sir Safety Susa Perugia downing Germany’s Berlin Recycling Volleys. The second encounter for all series will take place this week. CEV has match reports for all those duels.

Beach Volleyball

World champions victorious in the Brazilian Tour opening stop

Reigning world champions Ana Patricia Ramos and Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa were the winners of the opening event of the Brazilian Beach Volleyball Tour, which took place in Maringá this weekend. The two defeated veterans Barbara Seixas and Carolina Salgado in the three-set (21-12, 20-22, 20-18) gold medal match. Evandro Gonçalves and Arthur won the men’s tournament with a 2-0 (26-24, 21-17) win over Arthur Mariano and Adrielson dos Santos. Get all the info on the Brazilian Federation website.

Canadians and Estonians win King of the Court Miami

The new Canadian team of Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes and Estonia's top duo of Kusti Nõlvak and Mart Tiisaar were the winners of the King of the Court event held in Miami, USA, this weekend - both teams will feature in Beach Pro Tour events in Mexico over the next two weeks. Brandie and Melissa got 15 points in the final and outscored Brazil's Larissa Maestrini/Lili Maestrini (5) and Czech Republic's Barbora Hermannová/Marie-Sara Stochlova (3). The Estonians also had a comfortable victory, getting 14 points to eight of Chile's Noe Aravena/Vicente Droguett and Qatar's Cherif Younousse/Ahmed Tijan. Check all the results on the King of the Court website.