Osasco and Minas advance to the Brazilian Cup final

Two of the most traditional teams in Brazilian women's volleyball, Osasco São Cristovão Saúde and Gerdau Minas are set to clash for the title of the 2026 Brazilian Cup on Saturday.

The powerhouses overcame the semifinal round of the tournament on Friday and will return to the Moringão stadium, in Londrina, on Saturday, at 21:00 (00:00 UTC, Sunday), for the decisive match.

• Watch the Brazilian Cup live on VBTV

The most successful team in the Brazilian Cup with four golds, Osasco will try to defend the title they won last year - they also triumphed in 2009, 2014 and 2018. Minas will try to catch them with four trophies, having stood at the top of the podium in 2019, 2021 and 2023.

Osasco were dominant in the first semifinal and gave no chance to longtime rivals SESC RJ Flamengo, winning 3-0 (25-21, 26-24, 25-17) to take their opponents down for the first time in the season.

Argentine opposite Bianca Cugno was critical in Osasco's victory, tallying 23 points (21 kills, two aces) and earning the match's MVP award. American outside hitter Caitie Baird was the team's second-most productive player, with 14 points (11 kills, two aces, one block).

"We had lost to them 3-0 on both Superliga matches," Cugno highlighted. "But today we did a good job and got our payback. The most important thing today was playing aggressively against such a strong team as Flamengo."

With star outside hitter Simone Lee slowly getting back into the rotation after recovering from an ankle injury, middle blocker Lorena Viezel, with 11 points (seven kills, three blocks, one ace), and Olympic medalist opposite Tainara Santos, with ten (nine kills, one ace), led Flamengo's offense in the semifinal.

Minas come back to beat Praia

In the second semifinal, Minas came from behind to beat rivals Dentil Praia Clube, bouncing back after a first-set loss to win the Derby 3-1 (20-25, 25-16, 25-18, 25-20).

Minas' strong team performance showed on the box score, as each of the team's five starting hitters got to double digits in scoring - outside hitter Glayce Vasconcelos led the way with 15 points, followed by middle blocker Thaisa Daher (14) and Júlia Kudiess (12), Russian opposite Maria Khaletskaya (13) and Canadian outside hitter Hilary Johnson (11).

"I think we started the match wanting way too much to get things done," Thaisa, who earned the MVP award, reflected. "That anxiety hurt us in the first set. After that, we started serving better, and each of us understood what they had to do in their own roles to help the team. We should have started better, but I'm glad that we managed to turn things around."

Praia had solid production from their outside hitters, with Michelle Pavao leading the team with 14 points and American Payton Caffrey, who played as an opposite, and Bulgarian Maria Koleva adding 12 each.

Set to play for the Brazilian Cup title for the first time in history, the teams have met once in the 2025-2026 Superliga, and, despite playing on the road, Minas triumphed 3-2 in December.

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