The Polish national team made a huge step towards participating in the Nations League Finals after decisively beating Brazil 3:0 (25:22, 28:26, 25:19) in the tournament's derby in Chicago. With this success, Nikola Grbić's proteges recorded their eighth victory, accumulated 23 points, and climbed to third place in the temporary standings, just two points behind second-placed USA, who have a game in hand. Brazil remains ninth with 6 wins, 4 losses, and 16 points, seriously complicating their battle for qualification to the final tournament. The 'Seleção' has one more match remaining - against China. Given the opponent, the Brazilians are expected to record a seventh victory, with which they will conclude the preliminary phase of the VNL.
The first two sets were extremely evenly matched, but in the decisive moments, the Poles showed stronger nerves and closed the sets with 25:22 and 28:26. After that, the third set proceeded entirely under their dictation, and after 25:19, they sealed the final 3:0.
The top scorers for Poland were Semeniuk and Fornal with 13 points each, while for Brazil, Darlan and Lucarelli finished with 12 each.
| Metric | Brazil | Poland |
|---|---|---|
| Attack | 42 | 39 |
| Block | 4 | 6 |
| Aces | 1 | 6 |
| Points from opponent's errors | 20 | 27 |
| Digs | 44 | 47 |
| Reception | 53 | 60 |
Poland did not dominate in attack but compensated with excellent serving, effective blocking, and more stable reception. These elements proved decisive for the clean victory over one of their direct competitors.
The victory also brought 6.47 points for the FIVB world ranking. Poland now has 388.71 points and extended their lead at the top. Italy remains second with 363.37 points, and Russia, which was recently reinstated in the world ranking, is third with 352.10 points. Brazil lost 6.47 points and remains seventh with 310.20 points.
Photo:volleyballworld.com
