Brazil's women's national team started their participation in the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) with a victory. In front of their home crowd in Brazil, the ".seleção." defeated the Netherlands 3:1 (25:17, 25:15, 25:27, 25:23) in their first match of the tournament.
The Brazilians dominated the first two sets, where their serve proved to be one of their main weapons. The Netherlands managed to bring back the intrigue after a dramatic third set, won 27:25, but the hosts closed out the match in the fourth part and secured the final victory.
The most effective scorer for the winners was Julia Bergman with 24 points. Tainara added 21 points to Brazil's success.
For the Netherlands, Else Kok performed best with 13 points, while Dame Stuut scored 9 points.

Brazil surpassed their opponent in all key elements of the game. The most significant advantage was in attack, where the South Americans scored 64 points compared to 45 for the Netherlands. The hosts were more effective on serve with 7 aces against 3, as well as in blocking – 13 against 10. The only statistic in which the ".Tulips." (Netherlands) had an advantage was points from opponent's errors.

Statistics show that Brazil controlled defense and game organization better. The Brazilians recorded 99 digs against 82 for the opponent and had more successful assists. The Netherlands, however, demonstrated more stable reception, which helped them stay in the match and snatch the third set.
Brazil's two top scorers – Julia Bergmann and Tainara – scored a total of 45 points and were fundamental to their success. For the Netherlands, there was no player with similar scoring efficiency, which proved to be a decisive factor in the final outcome of the match.

photo: .volleyballworld.com