Praia and Minas continue to dominate the Brazilian Superliga

Set to represent Brazil at the 2024 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in two weeks, in-state rivals Dentil Praia Clube and Gerdau Minas continue to make of the country’s 2024-2025 Women’s Superliga a two-horse race.

With victories on Tuesday at the start of the eighth leg of the regular season, the Minas Gerais rivals solidified their spots in first and second place, creating a three-point separation from the rest of the pack.

Select Brazilian Men’s and Women’s Superliga matches are available live for VBTV subscribers located in Brazil.

League leaders Praia were strongly challenged by third-placed Osasco São Cristovão Saúde, but played better in the key moments to produce a 3-2 (25-21, 20-25, 14-25, 25-20, 15-12) home victory and rebound from last week’s upset against SESI Vôlei Bauru.

The Uberlândia side heavily relied on their international stars to pull off the win as while Russian outside hitter Sofya Kuznetsova led the team with 21 points and was awarded the Player of the Match, Americans Nia Reed and Payton Caffrey contributed 16 and 13 points, respectively.

“Matches of this level are very intense and it’s normal that teams can’t keep the same pace throughout all five sets,” Praia’s head coach Marcos Miranda reflected. “The most important thing was that in the key moments, we were able to execute our plan and take the win. Getting the points and continuing in first place was huge and this match was also great preparation for the Club World Championship.”

Osasco’s international players also had strong performances, with Azeri opposite Polina Rahimova leading the team with 19 points, followed by American middle blocker Callie Schwarzenbach, who tallied 16.

Minas sweep SESI

Minas has a smoother ride in Belo Horizonte, showing strength from start to finish to sweep SESI 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-18). Dominican Olympian Yonkaira Peña produced an 18-point performance and was the Player of the Match, followed by Brazilian national team opposite Kisy Nascimento, who registered 13. Venezuelan outside hitter Roslandy Acosta scored 12 for SESI.

“I’m very happy with my performance tonight,” Peña remarked. “This victory meant a lot for us, especially with this being our last home match of the year. It was a great result and I’m sure it’s going to give us more energy to continue well in the Superliga.”

With the result, Praia continue at the top of the Superliga, now with 24 points (nine wins, one loss). With one game in hand, Minas are second with 22 (eight wins, one loss). Osasco (19), SESC RJ Flamengo (17) and SESI (15) complete the top five.

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