Brazil fielded a near reserve side but carried on their good form
Verona, Italy, October 5, 2014 – Undefeated Brazil put an end to USA’s eight winning streak beating them to top Pool F in the last match of the second round of the FIVB Women’s World Championship at PalaOlimpia on Sunday.
Key points:
•Brazil have now won four of the eight World Championship meetings against USA. The South Americans had previously won in 2010 and 2006
•Brazil have claimed victories in 30 of their last 32 World Championship matches only losing the finals in 2006 and 2010
•The only team to take points off Brazil so far are Turkey, who lost against them in five sets
Tandara Caixeta was the top scorer with 21 points for Brazil, followed by USA's Nicole Fawcett with 13 points.
Already qualified Brazil and USA decided to play weakened teams, with top scorers Thaisa Menezes and Kelly Murphy having to settle for a place among the substitutes. Jaqueline Carvalho was left out altogether and watched from the stands. The two teams traded points equally, until successful blocks and setter Josefa Almeida De Sousa Alves' second touch gave Brazil a three-point lead at the first technical time out. USA reacted with Kristin Lynn Hildebrand’s spikes overtaking their opponents at 9-8 and then continued to score, making it 12-8. Gabriela Braga Guimaraes won two points in a row and Brazil tied the set at 15-15. The teams played evenly until the end of the set, when a spike out by Kelsey Robinson was added to by Tandara Caixeta’s shot which gave the set to Brazil with a score of 25-23.
The second set started the same fashion as the previous one. The brilliant Adenizia Silva scored some precious points, and an ace brought her team to the first technical time out at 8-5. Brazil seemed to be even more aggressive than before, the American spikes were all blocked and Rachel Adams spiked twice into the net. USA coach, Karch Kiraly, had to call two time-outs in quick succession to try to stop the Brazilian momentum. But Brazil kept leading and USA weren't able to close the gap, also due to an ace by Guimaraes. At this point Brazil lost concentration and made a few mistakes, that gave the possibility to USA to come back at 21-20. USA could not neutralise Caixeta's attacks, that led her team up to 23-20. A kill block by Silva closed the set at 25-22.
The third set was again a similar story. Helped by a spectacular dig by libero Nicole Davis, Hildebrand managed to close a very long rally with a huge spike that allowed USA to overtake Brazil at 6-5. Their team maintained the lead to the score of 9-6, but Brazil came back and tied at 9-9 with a second touch point by setter Almeida De Sousa Alves. The game was levelled until 21-17, when Brazil took a four-point advantage with several successful spikes by Caixeta and Natalia Pereira. USA had a series of unforced errors and could not spike through the Brazilian blocks. Silva killed a ball to secure the set and the match at the score of 25-21.
Brazil and USA will head to Milan to play the finals coming first and second position respectively in Pool F. The match ups will be decided with a draw in Milan on Monday.