The result has made a huge impact on both teams’ aspirations in VNL 2023 as, with just three more Preliminary Phase matches to be played, Brazil are virtually guaranteed in the Finals, currently standing in third place with seven wins (20 points), while the Italians, ranked eighth with five wins (13 points), will need to fight for their spot until the end.
After sitting out of the first two weeks of the VNL 2023, the 29-year-old Gabi needed just one match to prove her importance to the team, leading the Brazilian victory against the defending champions with impressive 25 points (24 kills, one block), including the game-winner.
“It feels amazing to be back,” Gabi commented. “I was so excited to come back, especially here in Thailand, where the fans love volleyball so much. We knew this was going to be a very difficult match. I felt that we started well, but we missed some good opportunities to win the first set. Our blocking and defense weren’t working well at the beginning, but we had the patience to adjust it. Once we fixed that, were more aggressive with our serving and limited our errors, the game got better for us. I’m proud of the team because we never gave up and this is a very important victory for us.”
