Flamengo continue undefeated, but Minas hold onto first place

SESC RJ Flamengo came out on top in the duel involving the last two undefeated teams in the 2025-2026 Brazilian Women's Superliga, but their efforts weren't enough to take Gerdau Minas down from the top of the league standings - at least not yet.

Two of the most traditional clubs in women's volleyball in Brazil, they met on Friday, at the iconic Maracanãzinho stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, during the eighth leg of the regular season, and Flamengo fed from the support of thousands of their fans to triumph 3-2 (20-25, 28-26, 15-25, 25-18, 15-8), despite dropping their first sets in the season.

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Now standing as the only undefeated team in the tournament, Flamengo claimed their seventh victory in the season, getting to 20 points. They continue in second place, but are now only one point behind Minas, who have 21 (seven wins, one loss), but have one game in hand and depend only on their own efforts to move to the top.

One of Flamengo's main additions for the 2025-2026 season, American outside hitter Simone Lee returned to the team after missing the match against defending champions Osasco São Cristovão Saúde on Monday due to pain in her Achilles and hit the ground running, tallying a match-high 25 points (18 kills, five blocks, two aces) and earning her third MVP award in six matches.

"I thought each detail made a difference tonight," she remarked. "They're a great team and pushed us in a way that we hadn't experienced yet this season. But we all played very well, we stuck together and kept our energy high. I'm very proud of this team, and it's been a joy to play with these girls."

Olympic medalist opposite Tainara Santos was also very productive, registering 17 points (15 kills, one block, one ace), while Brazilian national team middle blocker Lorena Viezel contributed 12, with eight kills and four blocks.

Russian opposite Maria Khaletskaya led Minas' efforts in Rio de Janeiro with 20 points (all in kills), while Canadian national team outside hitter Hilary Johnson dropped another 15, with 12 kills and three blocks.

"We need to take a good look into what happened in this match, but my feeling is that we made too many mistakes," Brazilian national team middle blocker Júlia Kudiess reflected. "Against a team like this, we need to be aggressive the entire time, but we made too many mistakes, and, of course, they deserve a lot of credit, but when our game went down, they took advantage and grew in the match. There's a lot of the season ahead of us, and we know we can do better."

Osasco loses the second in a row

Undefeated and the Superliga leaders less than a week ago, Osasco also played in Rio de Janeiro and suffered their second consecutive loss. Now ranked third with 18 points (six wins, two losses), the defending champions couldn't handle Fluminense, going down in five sets (24-26, 27-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-9). Fluminense's opposite Ariane Pinto was the match's MVP after producing 24 points (22 kills, two blocks), while Osasco's Argentine opposite Bianca Cugno topped all scorers with 33 (31 kills, two blocks).

Osasco's second-straight upset allowed Dentil Praia Clube to close the gap to them and tie their 18 points (six wins, three losses), ranking fourth due to their lower set ratio. On Wednesday, Praia went on the road and swept (25-17, 25-23, 25-19) Paulistano Barueri, helped by 19 points (all in kills) from American opposite Morgahn Fingall, who received the MVP award.

Brazilian Women’s Superliga – Match Schedule & Results

The eighth leg continues on Sunday, when ninth-placed Batavo Mackenzie play tenth-placed Tijuca Tênis Clube at 18:30 (21:30 UTC), and ends on Monday, with eighth-placed Maringá playing fifth-placed SESI Vôlei Bauru at 19:00 (22:00 UTC) and 11th-placed Brasília Vôlei battling 12th-placed Renasce Vôlei Sorocaba at 21:30 (00:30 UTC, Tuesday).

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