Brazil win Clash of Titans and end Week 2 in first place

Brazil is set to enter the third and last week of the Volleyball Nations League 2025 Preliminary Phase two points clear at the top of the standings after they defeated Poland on Sunday in Chicago, in their last match in the second week of the tournament.

The duel between the top two teams in the VNL 2025 so far was mostly dominated by the South Americans, who, despite having the vast majority of the crowd at NOW Arena against them, displayed a solid game to secure a 3-1 (25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 28-26) victory.

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The only team to get to the end of the second week of the VNL 2025 with seven victories in eight matches, Brazil, which got four of them in Chicago, going undefeated in the American city, reached the 20-point mark with their victory over the Polish, who continued with 18 points (six wins, two losses) and went down from first to second.

Replacing his older brother Alan, who couldn’t play for Brazil after scoring 31 points against Italy on Saturday, opposite Darlan Souza nearly matched his production, delivering an impressive 26-point performance – he got all his points in kills.

“After my brother played so well yesterday, I knew that if I didn’t do the same, he’d pick on me a lot, and I didn’t want to give him that opportunity,” Darlan said, joking. “We have a very friendly competition. Both of us want to be on the court all the time, so we push each other to be better every day.”

Outside hitters Henrique Honorato and Lukas Bergmann and middle blocker Judson Nunes scored 13 points each, while team captain and middle blocker Flavio Gualberto added 11.

On the Polish side, outside hitters Kamil Semeniuk, with 17 points (16 kills, one ace), and Artur Szalpuk, with 15 (12 kills, three blocks), had the most impact in the team’s offense. Middle blocker Jakub Nowak also got to double digits, registering 12 points, with an impressive seven blocks and five kills.

“It was a tough match because Brazil played really well, especially in the first two sets,” setter Marcin Komenda said. “But it was great that we came back, we fought until the end, and it was very close.”

By taking down the number one team in the world, Brazil collected 14.04 FIVB World Ranking points, going from sixth to fourth with their new total of 343.27. Despite the significant drop, the Polish continue clear in first place, with 396.13, over 30 points above second-placed France (365.40).

Canada sweep China

The first match of the day in Chicago had Canada putting on a strong performance to take China down 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-23) and take their first win in the week. With 11 points (three wins, five losses), the Canadians end the second week of the VNL 2025 in 14^th place. China are one spot below, having collected seven points with two victories and six losses so far.

Opposite Xander Ketrzynski had an excellent all-around performance and led Canada with 21 points (14 kills, four aces, three blocks). Outside hitters Isaac Heslinga and Skyler Varga also reached double digits in scoring, registering 17 and 11 points, respectively.

Opposite and captain Jiang Chuan was China’s most productive player with 15 points (14 kills, one ace) registered, while outside hitter Yu Yuantai scored ten, with nine kills and one ace.

The second week of the VNL 2025 will be completed with the duel involving hosts the United States and Italy, which is set to start at 19:30 local time (00:30 GMT, Monday) in Chicago.

VNL 2025 – Match Schedule & Results

The VNL 2025 will have a one-week break before the women return to action from July 9-13. The men will compete again from July 16-20, with pools held in Chiba, Japan, Gdańsk, Poland, and Ljubljana, Slovenia.

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