Praia mount incredible comeback to remain undefeated in the Superliga

Dentil Praia Clube’s winning streak in the 2024-2025 Brazilian Women’s Superliga nearly came to an end on Tuesday, but the Uberlândia side found strength from within to mount an incredible comeback against SESC RJ Flamengo.

Playing on the road, at the iconic Maracanãzinho stadium, in Rio de Janeiro, the reigning Brazilian Cup winners saw themselves down two sets against Flamengo, but managed to come back and take a heroic 3-2 (24-26, 12-25, 25-22, 25-22, 18-16) victory.

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

The only undefeated team in the Superliga, Praia further solidified their spot at the top of the standings, now with 20 points and an undefeated campaign of seven wins. Flamengo earned one point with the result and moved up from third to second place, with 16 points (five wins, three losses).

Praia’s American duo of Payton Caffrey and Nia Reed played a major role in the team’s comeback. While the 26-year-old outside hitter led the team’s offense with 20 points (18 kills, two blocks), the 28-year-old opposite came off the bench to add 12 (seven kills, four blocks, one ace) and take home the match’s MVP award. Brazilian Olympic medalist middle blocker Carol Gattaz also had a remarkable performance, scoring 17 points with 14 kills and three blocks.

In December, Praia will compete at the 2024 FIVB Volleyball Women’s Club World Championship in China.

Flamengo’s middle blocker Lorena Viezel topped all scorers with 23 points (16 kills, six blocks, one ace), followed by teammate and opposite Edinara Brancher, who tallied 22 (19 kills, three blocks). Up-and-coming outside hitter Helena Wenk produced 17 points.

“I thought we played a really solid match against Praia,” team captain and outside hitter Michelle Marinho reacted. “We’re still developing as a team, but tonight we made mistakes that ended up costing us the match against an opponent of their level. The match could have gone either way, but I think Praia was more patient and knew how to explore our weaknesses in the key moments. But I was happy to see how we reacted after having a tough loss in our last match.”

Flamengo will be at home again on Friday, when they welcome SESI Vôlei Bauru in Rio de Janeiro. On Saturday, Praia will be back home in Uberlândia against Fluminense.

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