Flamengo and Minas clash for the top spot in the Superliga

The only two undefeated teams in the 2025-2026 Brazilian Women's Superliga, SESC RJ Flamengo and Gerdau Minas meet on the first day of matches of the eighth leg of the tournament's regular season with the first place in the standings on the line.

The top two teams in the country up to this point in the season, they are set to battle at the iconic Maracanãzinho stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, on Friday, at 21:00 local time (00:00 UTC, Saturday).

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The teams are separated by just two points in the standings, with Minas currently sitting in first place with 20 (seven wins) and Flamengo coming in second place with 18 (six wins). Unlike their rivals, however, the Rio de Janeiro side is yet to drop points in the Superliga and hasn't actually lost a single set in the tournament so far, trailing their rivals because they had one of their matches postponed.

Coming from a dominant three-set road victory over defending champions and third-placed Osasco São Cristovão Saúde last Monday, Flamengo may not have their leading scorer, American Simone Lee, who sat out of the duel in São Paulo due to pain in her Achilles.

Olympic medalist opposite Tainara Santos is Flamengo's second-most productive offensive player in 2025-2026, having registered 79 points so far. Outside hitter Karina Souza, who has 58 points, and Serbian middle blocker Maša Kirov, with 51, are other important weapons in the team coached by the legendary Bernardo 'Bernardinho' Rezende.

Minas also started the weekend on fire, handling Sancor Maringá Vôlei in straight sets at home on Monday to get to the top of the standings following Osasco's defeat to Flamengo. After losing opposite Amanda Marques to a season-ending injury, the team from Belo Horizonte has seen RussianMaria Khaletskaya rise to fill her spot - she was the MVP in their victory against Maringá with 12 points.

Back after becoming a mother, Olympic medalist libero Nyeme Costa is one of the stars of the team, which has Canadian national team outside hitter Hilary Johnson as its leading scorer with 104 points, and also gets significant production from middle blockers Júlia Kudiess (88) and Thaisa Menezes (85).

The recent results in matches between the teams indicate impressive balance, with three victories for Flamengo and two for Minas. Four five-setters were held in the last eight encounters, and the last sweep in the Superliga dates back to February 2021.

Osasco and Praia also play on Friday

Two other exciting duels will be held on Friday, before the encounter involving Flamengo and Minas. One of them will have Osasco going on the road against sixth-placed Fluminense in Rio de Janeiro at 18:30 (21:30 UTC).

At the same time, fourth-placed Dentil Praia Clube will meet seventh-placed Paulistano Barueri on the road.

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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