Sada Cruzeiro relied on their star power and counted on great performances from Olympic champions Lucas Saatkamp, Douglas Souza and Wallace de Souza to triumph in the Derby of the second leg of the Brazilian Men’s Superliga, on Tuesday.
The reigning South American champions hosted in-state rivals Itambé Minas at the Riacho stadium, in Contagem, and prevailed after five intense sets, winning 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 27-25, 23-25, 16-14).
The Brazilian Men’s and Women’s Superliga matches are available live for VBTV subscribers located in Brazil.
With 19 points (12 kills, four blocks, three aces), middle blocker Lucas led the team’s scoring efforts and was awarded as the match’s MVP. Outside hitter Douglas contributed another 15 (13 kills, two aces), while team captain and opposite Wallace added ten, with eight kills, one ace and one block.
“The match was full of ups and downs,” Lucas said. “They made too many errors in the first set, but then did a good job of finding their rhythm in the second set, while our level dropped. We got it back halfway through the third set and maybe could even have had a more comfortable victory in the tie-breaker, but what matters is that we managed to win this very important match.”
