Volleyball: Brazil Women Overpower Japan for a Straight-Sets Triumph

Brazil's women's volleyball team thrashed Japan in a dominating three-set victory (25-20, 25-17, 25-18) to secure a place in the quarterfinals in their Pool B match on Thursday, August 1, in South Paris Arena 1.

The loss was Japan's second straight in the pool stage after falling 3-1 to Poland on Sunday, July 28, and made its hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals very slim.

Japan will need to defeat Kenya in the teams' final pool match on Saturday, August 3, and hope to advance as one of the two best third-place teams.

Brazil will battle Poland on Sunday, August 4, in their last pool match in a battle to see which team will move on at the top of the standings.

The Brazilians, the silver medalists at the Tokyo 2020 Games, played like an incredible machine, overwhelming Japan with their power and height from start to finish. Japan fought valiantly, but was rebuffed again and again on attack and defense.

Gabriela led No. 2-ranked Brazil with a match-high 17 points, while Ana Cristina contributed 15 points for the winners.

Captain Sarina Koga was Japan's top scorer with 10 points, while Arisa Inoue had nine in the loss.

Japan, ranked seventh in the world, does not possess the strong attack of years past and it showed in the comprehensive defeat to Brazil.

"Brazil had a high level of concentration," Japan coach Masayoshi Manabe stated. "We were broken down on our serves and then blocked, which was a losing pattern." 

Koga commented, "We were not precise on offense, and we allowed our opponent to play offense with ease."

Key Aspect of the Volleyball Match

The opening set was close and stood at 15-15, before Brazil surged forward by scoring 10 of the final 15 points to take the set in just 22 minutes.

After that, the South Americans kept the pressure on in the second set, rebuffing Japan repeatedly at the net and on attack, and claiming the set 25-17.

Brazil's display of muscle made the final set almost academic. The South Americans moved out to a quick lead and coasted to the victory 25-18.

Brazil scored 45 points on attack to Japan's 32, and had 10 block points to Japan's three in the contest.

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Author: Jack Gallagher

The author is a veteran sports journalist and one of the world's foremost figure skating experts. Find articles and podcasts by Jack on his author page, and find him on X (formerly Twitter) @sportsjapan.