(Eliezer Sports/Praia Clube)
What a game! In a spectacular turnaround after losing 2-0, Praia Clube asserted control of the court and defeated Sesi Bauru by a score of 3-2 (16/25, 18/25, 25/23, 25/19 and 15 /11). With the victory, the Minas Gerais club took the lead in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Volleyball Super League. In the other playoff match, Minas beat Fluminense 3-0 (25/15, 25/17 and 28/26).
Praia’s main highlight was setter Milla Christie, winner of the best player on the court award. Both teams return for the second knockout game in the next Friday (29), at 6:30 pm. The duel will take place at Arena Paulo Skaf, in Bauru. If Sesi wins, the dispute will be defined in the third match, which will return to Uberlândia-MG.
Sesi Bauru overwhelming
Even playing away from home, it was Sesi Bauru who had a better start to the match. With an excellent defense and a precise attack, the team from São Paulo opened up a good lead on the scoreboard, reaching eight points ahead at 18 to 10. Afterwards, Praia reacted, but saw their opponent close the set at 25 to 16.
The script remained the same in the following half and the Bauruenses started 5-1 ahead. The visitors’ defensive system forced the hosts to force many attacks on the edge of the court, which caused several mistakes from the Minas Gerais team. Furthermore, they also encountered difficulties in reception, giving some free points to their rival. In this way, Sesi Bauru expanded to 2-0 on the overall score, with a 25-18 victory in the second set.
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Virada do Praia
Far behind on the scoreboard, Praia Clube corrected the mistakes they were making in the match and started with an advantage in the third set. Detail that the club from Uberlândia had to play with its reserve setter, Milla Christie, as Naiane Ríos suffered an injury at the beginning of the third half and had to leave the match. After a great reaction from Sesi, the duel was even and central Milka Marcília was crucial for Praia to reduce the score with a 25-23 victory.
With an overwhelming volume, the Minas Gerais team started the fourth set with a three-point lead. Preventing any reaction from the opponent, Praia led the half from start to finish and, with a show from Russian Sofya Kuznetsova, took the duel to the tie-break with a triumph by the score of 25 to 19. Finally, after a lot of balance, the home team sealed the result with 15 to 11.
In Belo Horizonte, Minas defeated Fluminense 3-0 (25/15, 25/17 and 28/26) and also came out ahead in the Superliga quarter-finals. The next duel between the teams will take place next Friday (29), at 9 pm, in Rio de Janeiro. Thus, if the Minas Gerais team wins once again, they will guarantee a place in the semi-finals of the national league.
Journalist from Espírito Santo graduated from PUC-SP and lover of Olympic and Paralympic sports.
