Brazilian Superliga 2014/2015

Funvic/Taubaté beat SESI in the first game of the Paulista finals. It was a very convincing 3-0 win (21/25, 23/25, 18/25). Funvic served very well with Lipe, Dante and Raphael, while SESI's reception line was terrible with Lucarelli, Mão, Douglas and even Serginho. I don't know if there are stats available anywhere (probably not), but Lipe was probably the best scorer. Dante seems to be in a great shape too. Final match next Saturday, and then it'll finally be time for Superliga.

Holy crap, what a match! Funvic/Taubaté beat SESI-SP 3-2 (25/16, 25/17, 24/26, 22/25, 15/11) and is now the new Paulista champion! Level-wise it was kinda messy with a huge amount of errors from both sides, but it was really entertaining, ending with a red card to both teams. Downside is that Raphael suffered a big ankle twist and had to leave the game during the fourth set. Sub setter Pedro came in and managed to keep the team together to get the win somehow.

Now it's finally time for Superliga! Unfortunately, no broadcast of the first match - Minas x UFJF, which will take place in an hour from now.

Minas Tenis Clube - UFJF 3-1 (25/17, 25/21, 23/25, 26/24) stats
MVP: Yadrian Escobar

First game of the season! Valid for the second round (). Cuban Yadrian Escobar started as OPP in Franco's place and ended up as the best scorer (23/43, 53%, 3 blocks). From UFJF, the best was Alemão with 16 points (16/29, 55%). I expect Alemão to take Bergamo's starter status soon.

I feel like I'm talking to myself in this thread. Sorry for the spam everyone.

Thank you both! I appreciate the feedback. I agree that there would be more interest in the league if more games were broadcast... hell, even in Brazil the league started quietly (people barely know there's already been a game and the media is still talking about the Paulista finals). I'll make sure to post videos whenever I find them.

@ravens: People seem to be enjoying Funvic/Taubaté a lot this year due to their strong roster (they have quite a few players from RJX too, like Maurício Souza, Lipe, Dante and Thiago Sens). I'm a bigger fan of Minas and Vôlei Brasil Kirin myself, but Funvic is definitely one of my favorites as well. There are probably 5 or 6 teams able to perform very well once the playoffs start, including Ziober Maringá. Sada Cruzeiro, as always though, is still the strongest candidate for the title.

Quote from Agguerro

Hey I also follow your thread and when I am always looking out for matches from the Brazilian league. About the finals - I watched both of them. It was experience (Taubate) vs youth (sesi). Sesi have got a lot of young players and in the second game it was really telling. Lucarelli and the other outside player ( who went to the world league?) are surely the next generation of the national team. Passing without Murillo is a big problem and also I think Marcellino made a few crucial mistakes as well.... About Murillo - whats the prognonsis? It seems his shoulder has got worse?

I am waiting to see the match up between Taubate and my favourite Sada!!

The other young OH was Douglas Souza. He's a really good spiker, but his passing is really lackluster and he still makes some important mistakes in crucial moments (just like Lucarelli, which may be justifiable due to his age). But I do agree that he seems to be a big candidate for a spot in the senior NT soon, apparently Bernardinho thinks the same as he always like to bring young players to big competitions to let them feel the atmosphere and train with the big guys. He's doing the same to Rafael Araújo (SESI's backup OPP), who performed really well against Taubaté in the last game.

Regarding Murilo, I've read that his new surgery has nothing to do with the other one he had a while ago. It seems he has some problems in his acromioclavicular joint (iirc) which causes atrophy in group of muscles in his shoulder or something like that. I'm not sure how that'll affect his funcionality or performance, though. SESI seems to expect he'll already be available to play in January next year, that's the only prognosys anyone knows so far.

Quote from Agguerro

Yes Douglas Souza looks like he has potential - but they really need Murillo to come back and bring stability and calm. Shame about Murillo, its been a long recovery for him, he is SOOOO important looking into Rio.

Yeah, Murilo's is SESI biggest asset imo. I think they'll struggle against bigger teams until he comes back.

First game of the first round just finished a while ago:

Ziober Maringá - São Bernardo 3-0 (25/18, 25/20, 25/21) MVP: Rafael Martins (MB) stats
Easy win for Maringá, as expected. Rivaldo was the best scorer with 15 pts, followed by Piá with 12. From São Bernardo, OH Edy Nery had 12. Nice number of people attended the game (2.400), especially considering it's Tuesday. Quite a difference from the 300 who watched the first match of the season live in Minas...

Four games scheduled for the next two days, only one broadcast:
29/10 - Voleisul/Paquetá Esportes - Vôlei Brasil Kirin
29/10 - Montes Claros - SESI-SP
29/10 - Taubaté/Funvic - Minas Tênis Clube
30/10 - São José dos Campos - Sada Cruzeiro (SporTV)

Sada, Taubaté and SESI are the main favorites, with Brasil Kirin right behind. I know whay you mean about Renan and Rafael, they still haven't impressed me that much either, even in the league. But they definitely need more playing time now that they've matured a little more (Renan is getting a very good chance in Ravenna this year) and there's tons of room for growth. Having a 2,17m tall OPP in the NT in the future doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. I like both and hope they can improve more on the international level in these next few years.

1) Lucas Loh is playing for ZAKSA Kedzierzyn-Kozle in Poland. As much as I like the guy, he's having a terrible season so far, unfortunately.
2) Samuel is done, I think. He's been having some chronic issues for a few years now; last I saw of him was in Vivo/Minas during the 2012/2013 season, but he was always in the bench.
3) Wallace Martins would be a solid candidate for the NT. He's coming off an injury and is already performing relatively well as starter OPP in Brasil Kirin. I'm not sure if there's room for him in the NT anymore, though. There's already Wallace Souza and Vissotto ( ), plus youngsters Renan, Rafael and possibly Luan Weber (that is, if he manages to return after his ACL injury last year in a good level). Wallace is already 30+ years old and that may count to his chances.
4) No one knows what's up with Murilo Radke and Bernardinho. lol He's always called to the wide roster and plays in some smaller championships, but never quite makes it to the senior NT in bigger tournaments. Who knows, maybe he underperforms during trainings. Our backup setters (Rapha and William mostly) are getting older, so perhaps we'll see some changes soon.

Hope this answers all of your questions.

I hope I'll be able to watch the Olympics in Rio too! I also hope the NT does not disappoint me.
Regarding the setters in the league: Marcelinho is my favorite and the best imo. William and Raphael come as close seconds.

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Today results:

Montes Claros - SESI-SP 1-3 (22/25, 22/25, 25/23, 19/25) MVP: Riad Ribeiro (MB)? stats
Seems like it was a close match in the first three sets. Nice numbers all around from both teams, but SESI was a lot better in blocking (Riad with 7 and Douglas with 5).

Voleisul/Paquetá Esportes - Vôlei Brasil Kirin 1-3 (19/25, 25/17, 22/25, 23/25) MVP: João Paulo Tavares (OH) stats
Wallace and João Paulo Bravo made the difference for Brasil Kirin. Gustavão is still underperforming, Vini came in the the third set and more than doubled his amount of points. Luizinho + Vini as MBs seem the way to go so far. Weird choice for MVP, should've gone to JP Bravo or Wallace judging from the results.

Funvic/Taubaté - Minas Tênis Clube 3-0 (25/23, 25/23, 25/19) MVP: Pedro Gomes (S) stats
First two sets seem to have been close too. Minas made way too many mistakes (27 vs. 17) and that's probably the reason they lost 3-0. Great performances from Lipe and Lorena; Cuban Yadrian Escobar was Minas's best player once again.

Today result:

São José dos Campos - Sada Cruzeiro 1-3 (11/25, 25/20, 20/25, 19/25) MVP: Yoandry Leal (OH) stats

Expected win for Sada. Leal and Wallace were the main forces driving the team as always; Winters and Douglas Cordeiro played well as starters. From SJC, the best were OHs Rogério Mineiro and Juninho. OPP Jean, who usually performs a lot better, couldn't do much to help in attack today, but he had a nice turn in service that helped the team win the second set.

Today results:

Sada Cruzeiro - Montes Claros 3-1 (22/25, 25/17, 25/17, 25/18.) MVP: Frederic Winters (OH) stats
Another easy win for Sada despite the loss in the first set. Wallace and Winters were the team's best scorers with 19 and 15 points respectively. Léo Mello, Ygor Ceará and Poglajen were the best in Montes Claros.

SESI-SP - Voleisul/Paquetá Esportes 1-3 (25/23, 22/25, 22/25, 21/25) MVP: Rafael Koettler (L) stats
First upset of the season! SESI made way too many mistakes as usual (34 against 23). Seems like it was a huge match for libero Rafinha too, and against Serginho of all people. OHs Douglas and Lucarelli were good for SESI, while Voleisul's OPP Leandrão was the best with 17 points.

Vôlei Canoas - Ziober Maringá 1-3 (17/25, 22/25, 25/21, 20/25) MVP: Ricardo Garcia (S) stats
Canoas was kinda messy it seems. Good performance from Piá and Rivaldo once again, now with bigger help from La Bomba.

São José dos Campos - Minas Tênis Clube 2-3 (25/23, 16/25, 16/25, 25/20, 10/15) MVP: Franco Paese (OPP) stats
Big away win for young team of Minas. OH Bruno Canuto was the best scorer with 18 points, but backup OPP Franco was the best overall player, entering in the fourth set and saving the team with 14 points (12/16, 75% spikes). All six of Minas' spikers has 10+ points. From SJC, the best was also their backup OPP Kaio.

Vôlei Brasil Kirin - Funvic/Taubaté 2-3 (22/25, 19/25, 25/19, 25/17, 19/21) MVP: Dante Amaral (OH) stats
I was about to say "WHAT A TIE-BREAK!" no matter who won, but then the game ended with a ridiculously unfair error of the referee in favor of Taubaté. Wallace spiked into the block, the ball clearly went out and the referee gave the ball to Taubaté for no reason at all. Anyway, Lorena was unstoppable in the first two sets, but then the match changed completely after Stanzione put in Ary and Jotinha (in for JP Tavares and Sandro) and Wallace and Vini decided to start playing really great. Taubaté had 18-15 in the third set, but then Wallace served a few bombs and the team collapsed. I'm sad the game ended the way it did. Lorena and Wallace were the best scorers with 23 points each. Taubaté ended with 20 blocks.

Not a good day for home teams.

Next matches:

04/11 Sada Cruzeiro - Voleisul/Paquetá Esportes (SporTV)
05/11 Montes Claros - São José dos Campos
05/11 Funvic/Taubaté - SESI-SP
05/11 UFJF - Vôlei Brasil Kirin
05/11 Ziober Maringá - Minas Tênis Clube
05/11 São Bernardo - Vôlei Canoas