Campinas sweep Cruzeiro in front of massive crowd

Vôlei Renata Campinas arguably delivered their best performance in the season so far on Saturday, sweeping reigning world champions Sada Cruzeiro in the 2024-2025 Brazilian Men’s Superliga.

The teams met in an anticipated match of the seventh leg of the second round of the regular season of the Brazilian League and Campinas were dominant from start to finish, beating the world champions 3-0 (25-22, 25-16, 25-20).

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

The victory kept Campinas in second place in the Superliga standings with 38 points (14 wins, four losses) – they have as many points as Itambé Minas, but rank higher because of the tie-breakers. Cruzeiro continue in first place with 42 points (15 wins, three losses), but saw their cushion go down from seven to four points.

The match was played in Belém, a city in the Northern Region of Brazil, as part of an initiative to take Superliga matches across the country. The answer from the fans was amazing as nearly 9,000 packed the stands of the Guilherme Paraense Arena, also known as ‘Mangueirinho’.

Campinas’ Argentinean Olympic medalist opposite Bruno Lima topped all scorers with 22 points (17 kills, three blocks, two aces). Middle blocker Léo Andrade registered ten, with five kills and five blocks, and was selected as the Player of the Match.

“After our last defeat, we really got together and worked hard to react,” Léo said. “One of the things we talked about was trying to play more relaxed and not worry so much about the pressure and I think that it worked today.”

Star outside hitter Douglas Souza led Cruzeiro with 11 points (ten kills, one block), followed by fellow Rio 2016 Olympic champion and middle blocker Lucas Saatkamp, who got nine, all in kills.

“I think that wasting too many counterattacks was our main sin today,” team captain and opposite Wallace de Souza reflected. “Our offense was well below its usual level and if you can’t score points, it gets really hard to beat a team like Campinas. But they also played really well and deserve all the credit. We’ll get back to work and improve.”

It was Campinas’ third-straight victory over Cruzeiro, but, for the first time in the series, the team got a sweep against the Superliga leaders – the last two encounters went to five sets.

Cruzeiro will only play on March 9, when they travel to face already-relegated Neurologia Ativa. Campinas will have two more days to prepare for their road game against Joinville Vôlei.

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