BRAZIL wrapped up its campaign in style via a rout of China, 25-19, 25-17, 25-17, in the penultimate day of the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) men’s tournament Week 3 Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The former Olympic and VNL champion Brazil needed only 66 minutes to wrap up its campaign with an 8-4 won-lost card for a top 5 finish in the VNL organized by the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and Volleyball World with Ganten, Gerflor, Mikasa, Mizuno, Senoh and Stake.com as global sponsors.
Brazil, the world No. 4, went 2-2 in the Philippine leg after setbacks to Italy and Poland. Its other win, a 3-0 wipeout of the Netherlands on Wednesday, assured itself of a spot in the 8-team VNL final round from July 19 to 24 in Poland.
The Brazilians still showed no mercy for a graceful end to their preliminary campaign with Felipe Moreira Roque bannering the barrage.
Roque had four blocks on top of 12 hits and an ace to finish with a game-high 17 points as Brazil gained much-needed momentum entering the finale.
Otavio Henrique Pinto chipped in 11 points while Ricardo Lucarelli Souza and Adriano Cavalcante added eight and seven points, respectively, for Brazil, which hardly needed the services of its other aces Henrique Honorato and Alan Souza.
“We have to improve. We have one week to prepare and to practice a lot,” said captain Bruno Mossa Rezende, who had 10 sets. “I think our counter attack has to be better. It’s something we didn’t do well this week but today was better,”
Out for revenge after bowing to Poland on Friday, Brazil ripped the gates wide open with a 13-6 start and never looked behind for a 25-19 win.
Brazil went on to dominate in the next two frames, meeting little challenge for a rousing exit in the Philippine leg of the VNL presented by PLDT with Rebisco, Akari and Philippine Sports Commission as major sponsors.
Bin Wang put up 11 while Jingyin Zhang, the No. 5 best spiker in the world, only had nine in a losing cause for China, which fell to the cellar of the 16-team VNL with a 2-9 record.
China, after losses to Japan and Slovenia, goes for a decent exit on Sunday in the Pasay City leg also backed by Fitbar, Instax Fujifilm, Fitness First, Pasay City, Taguig City, Diamond Hotel, Maynilad, Peugeot, SM MOA Arena, The Look Company and The Moment Group with Cignal, Inquirer Group, RMN, DOOH, One Sports, One Sports+ and Mega Mobile as media partners.