Brazil stop Italy's historic undefeated run in a thriller

The longest undefeated run ever registered in international volleyball came to an end on Sunday, when Brazil took reigning Olympic and world champions Italy down in front of their home fans in Brasília during the first week of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) 2026.

The teams that occupy the top two spots in the FIVB World Ranking met in the most-anticipated match of the opening week of the event, and the duel lived up to the expectations, with world No. 2 Brazil showing impressive effort and quality in front of over 10,600 supporters to prevail 3-2 (25-15, 25-22,  22-25, 24-26, 15-12) and hand the Italians their first defeat in more than two years.

• Watch the Volleyball Nations League 2026 live on VBTV

Before Sunday, the Italians had last tasted frustration on June 1, 2024, when they were defeated in five sets by Brazil in the Preliminary Phase of the VNL. Since then, they went on to secure 39 consecutive victories in a streak that lasted over two years and led them to win the Paris 2024 Olympics, the 2025 FIVB Volleyball Women's World Championship and the 2024 and 2025 editions of the VNL.

With the result, Brazil end the first week of the VNL 2026 undefeated with four wins and 11 points. The South Americans sit at the top of the standings alongside Japan.

Outside hitter Ana Cristina Souza was huge in Brazil's historic victory. The 22-year-old led the team's offense with 22 points (20 kills, two aces) and scored the game-winning point with a powerful swing from the backcourt.

"I think we just never gave up," Ana Cristina reacted. "We were trying to help each other in every point, and that's very important for us because we're a young team and are still finding our connection. We knew it was going to be hard, and it was probably one of the toughest matches in my career. This victory means a lot for the team."

Fellow outside hitter Julia Bergmann, who tallied 18 points (17 kills, one block), and middle blocker Diana Duarte, who had an incredible all-around game with 15 points (six kills, five aces, four blocks), were both instrumental in the Brazilian success.

Missing many of the players that starred in their numerous victories over the last two years, Italy had in Olympic and world champion Ekaterina Antropova, who moved from opposite to outside hitter this week, their leading scorer against Brazil - she registered 18 points, with 15 kills and three aces.

"The most important thing that we take from this match is that we never give up," Antropova said. "It's never easy to come back from two sets down, but this team showed a lot of courage. I'm really proud of our younger players, because playing Brazil in Brazil is always very difficult and many of them were doing it for the first time. Losing is always hard, but I'm happy that we got to give the fans here five great sets and we can only grow from this."

Before the duel between the top two teams in the world, the Netherlands ended the week on a high in Brasília, beating the Dominican Republic 3-0 (25-20, 25-19, 25-17) to earn their second victory in four matches in Brazil. Opposite Elles Dambrink led all scorers with 16 points (13 kills, three blocks).

Brasília said goodbye to the women's VNL 2026 with Türkiye's 3-1 (25-12, 25-9, 22-25, 25-18) win over Bulgaria. Middle blocker Deniz Uyanık was brilliant for the Turks, delivering 19 points with nine kills, seven blocks and three aces.

China stop Poland in Nanjing

In Nanjing, China came from behind to prevent Poland from ending Week 1 undefeated and produced a 3-1 (16-25, 25-18, 25-23, 26-24) comeback win on the last day of matches. Outside hitter Zhuang Yushan was the match's leading scorer with 24 points (20 kills, three blocks, one ace).

The best match of the day happened a few hours earlier, when Belgium held Serbia off to prevent a reverse sweep and triumph 3-2 (25-20, 25-22, 21-25, 20-25, 15-12), taking their continental rivals down for the first time since 2021.

Opposite Pauline Martin carried the Belgian offense with 24 points (23 kills, one block) while team captain and outside hitter Britt Herbots scored 18 (16 kills, two blocks) and surpassed 1,300 in her VNL career, now needing only another 25 to become the tournament's top scorer among the women.

The third match of the day had Czechia sweeping Thailand 3-0 (25-14, 25-19, 25-11) with 16 points (14 kills, two blocks) scored by outside hitter Julita Piasecka.

France reverse sweep Ukraine

In Québec City, the last day of Week 1 started with a thriller, which had France coming back from a two-set deficit to overcome Ukraine 3-2 (18-25, 15-25, 25-20, 25-19, 15-10).

Opposite Cyrielle Depie was the main catalyst of the French comeback, coming off the bench to register a match-high 23 points (19 kills, four blocks), four more than team captain Héléna Cazaute.

A few hours later, the United States dominated Germany to a 3-0 (25-22, 25-15, 25-12) victory and ended the week with three wins and a loss. Outside hitters Simone Wank and Avery Skinner led the way with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

The last match of the week also went to distance, with Japan fighting hosts Canada to continue undefeated. After five sets, the Asians prevailed 3-2 (29-27, 25-20, 23-25, 28-30, 15-12) and caught Brazil at the top of the standings.

The last match at Centre Vidéotron had three players surpassing the 20-point mark. Canadian star opposite Kiera Van Ryk topped all scorers with 28 (25 kills, three aces), while captain Mayu Ishikawa and opposite Yukiko Wada each tallied 23 for Japan.

With the three aces registered, Van Ryk moved up to second place in the all-time VNL serving ranking with 78 aces registered in 54 matches.

VNL 2026 schedule
VNL 2026 ticket information

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