Veterans help Brazil turn the tables on Türkiye

Brazil made great use of the homecourt advantage to start the second week of the Volleyball Nations League 2022 on the right foot as the Tokyo Olympic silver medallists overcame a first-set loss to secure a 3-1 victory over Türkiye at the Nilson Nelson stadium, in the country’s capital Brasilia, on Wednesday.

With Tokyo medallists Gabriela ‘Gabi’ Guimaraes and Rosamaria Montibeller on the court for the first time in the VNL 2022, the South Americans reversed the course of the match after dropping the first set to win 3-1 (19-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23) to the joy of the thousands of fans on the stands.

· Watch all VNL 2022 matches live on Volleyball TV.

Recently confirmed as the team captain for the 2022 season, the 28-year-old Gabi was instrumental in the Brazilian victory. After a slow first set, the star outside hitter came back in great style, ending the match with a team-high 20 points (16 kills, two aces, two blocks).

“I’m happy to be back with the team, especially playing at home,” she said at the end of the match. “We knew it was going to be a difficult match today. We didn’t start so well and I was making a lot of mistakes and couldn’t help the team the way I wanted. I’m glad that we were able to make some changes and improve our blocking and defence, which allowed us to control the match a little bit better. Of course, there’s still a lot for us to improve, but I’m proud of the team for fighting until the end. The players who came off the bench helped a lot too and that’s the spirit we need.”

Rosamaria, who was recently cleared to play after recovering from a foot injury, was only brought in to serve at the end of the fourth set. Another player who was part of the roster that took silver last year in Tokyo, middle blocker Ana Carolina ‘Carol’ da Silva also played a big role in the result, producing 14 points with eight kills and a match-high six blocks.

Brazil also got great production off the bench, with opposite Kisy Nascimento entering the match to produce 18 points (13 kills, five blocks) and outside hitter Julia Bergmann adding another eight, all in kills.

Volleyball Nations League 2022: Schedule and results

The top scorer of the match was Turkish star opposite Ebrar Karakurt, who registered at least 20 points for a fifth-straight match, producing 21 with 19 kills, one block and one ace. Middle blockers Eda Erdem and Zehra Gunes and outside hitter Tugba Senoglu contributed with ten points each.

Brazil will be back on the court on Thursday, against the Netherlands, at 21.00 local time (Friday, 00.00 GMT). The South Americans have won four of their five VNL matches so far and will be looking to leave Brasilia with a perfect record on Sunday.

“Brazilians love volleyball and they supported us from the beginning,” Gabi added. “This was also a big change for us today and we hope they keep coming until the end of the week and that the stadium is full every day.”

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