Less than one day after producing an impressive 29 points against Italy in the semifinals, Brazilian captain Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimarães was even more productive against the Japanese, leading her team with a whopping 35 points (33 kills, one block, one ace). Fellow outside hitter Júlia Bergmann scored 13 (12 kills, one block), while opposite Rosamaria Montibeller added 11, with eight kills and three blocks.
"We deserved it," Gabi summarized. "We couldn't leave Thailand without stepping on the podium and winning a medal. That's how I felt during the entire match today, and I could feel the same thing from my teammates. I'm proud that we were able to switch our focus to the third-place match. It was tough to play another tie-breaker after having lost one to Italy the day before. But we fought for each other, kept our level high in the difficult moments and showed we have the mental strenght to do it."
Gabi faced strong competition from Japanese outside hitter Yoshino Sato, who played a critical role in her team’s reaction by registering 34 points (29 kills, three aces, two blocks). Captain Mayu Ishikawa tallied 23 points, all in kills, and opposite Yukiko Wada contributed another 13, with 12 kills and one block.
Brazil’s blocking was again a key factor for the team, which outscored the Japanese in that area of the game by 15 points to six. The Asians made up for the difference with their offense, which generated 75 kills to Brazil’s 68, but giving up twice as many points in errors (26 to 13) was hard to overcome. Each team fired five aces in the match.
