Brazil bounce back and will face China in the quarterfinals

After back-to-back losses, Brazil ended the Volleyball Nations League 2023 Preliminary Phase with a win over hosts Thailand on Sunday, in Bangkok, and shaped the quarterfinal duels that will take place in Arlington, the United States, in the Finals, from July 12-19.

The South Americans managed to climb up to fourth place in the standings with their 3-0 (25-20, 25-16, 25-23) victory over the Asians at the Hua Mark Indoor Stadium and have set a duel with fifth-placed China in the quarterfinals in two weeks.

• Watch Volleyball Nations League 2023 live on VBTV

The other three VNL 2023 quarterfinals, which will be played on either July 12 or 13, will have first-placed Poland meeting eighth-placed Germany, second-placed and hosts USA battling seventh-placed Japan and third-placed Türkiye dueling with defending champions and sixth-placed Italy.

Coming from defeats against Canada and Türkiye, Brazil looked reinvigorated against Thailand, dictating the rhythm from the start to get the sweep. Team captain and outside hitter Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães led all scorers with 18 points, getting 17 kills and one block.

Brazil also got great production from their two middles, with Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva delivering 14 points (eight kills, one ace, five blocks) and Olympic champion Thaisa Menezes adding another 11 (ten kills, one ace).

“We knew we had to do a better job today and that exploring the middle could be a good option for us and that was our plan to attack them,” Carol commented. “We didn’t have much time to process the bad results we had, so we tried to only think about the next opponent and focus on the things we had to do better. Now we have two weeks to have the entire squad working together and we’ll try and improve as a team for the Finals. We’re not satisfied yet, we want to do better.”

Thailand, who played in front of a sold-out stadium for the fourth time this week, couldn’t deliver a win to their passionate fans, finishing 14^th in the Preliminary Phase, but they got to see a stellar performance form outside hitter Chatchu-On Moksri, who produced 20 points, with 18 kills, one ace and one block.

Brazil’s force at the net proved vital for the team’s victory as the South Americans were vastly dominant in kills (50 to 33) and blocks (ten to four). The Asians got more aces (three to two) and also benefited from more opponent errors (19 to 13).

**Volleyball Nations League 2023: full schedule and results**

Italy also ended the Preliminary Phase with a win as the defending champions topped Japan 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 17-25, 25-22) earlier on Sunday in Bangkok, determining the faith of both teams in the quarterfinals.

Opposite Sylvia Nwakalor and outside hitter Loveth Omoruyi led the Italian victory, with the former tallying 23 points and the latter adding another 18. Japan had outside hitter Airi Miyabe leaving the court with 16 points and opposite Miyu Nagaoka producing 15.

The VNL 2023 Finals will take place from July 12-16. The first two days will feature the quarterfinals, with two duels taking place on each day. The winning teams will have a day off on July 14 before returning to the court on July 15 for the semifinals. The medal matches will end the fourth edition of the tournament on July 16.

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