Barueri Fields Star-Studded Team For 1st Time In Season – SL Recap #20

2017-2018 BRAZILIAN WOMEN’S SUPERLIGA

• 10/15 – 03/02 – Regular Season
• Official League Site
• Teams
• Schedule
• Power Rankings
• Round 1; Round 2; Round 3; Round 4; Round 5; Round 6; Round 7; Round 8; Round 9; Round 10; Round 11
• Round 12; Round 13; Round 14; Round 15; Round 16; Round 17; Round 18; Round 19;

For the first time in its season, Barueri was able to field its “lethal” line-up of international stars Thaisa Daher, Katarzyna Skowronska, Carli Lloyd, and Jaqueline Endres as starters, as the team netted a 3-2 (20/25 25/22 15/25 25/19 15/13) win against Bauru after a very tough battle. While Thaisa had a very timid game in her season debut, Skowronska led the way for Barueri with 25 points on 25/41 (61%) hitting. Tifanny Abreu had another monster performance with 36 points on 33/53 (62%) hitting,  on the losing effort.

With these start-studded cast on the court playing at the same time, it is safe to assume that if all players are healthy and at their best, Barueri will offer a lot of of trouble to Superliga’s elite teams. They will have one more game to build up their chemistry before the play-offs start.

Team USA Watch

Nicole Fawcett returned from her calf injury in her first game of 2018 as a starter. She scored 11 points, including 4 aces and 2 blocks, but on 5/22 (23%) hitting. Needless to say, she needs to get back to her ideal playing shape. Meanwhile, Barueri hit 46% as a team under Carli Lloyd‘s offensive command. The team is now 5-1 with her as the starting setter.

Unfortunately, stats for Minas‘ game against SESC were not yet published in the competition’s website, so we don’t have info on Destinee Hooker‘s and Sonja Newcombe‘s performances.

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We have much to do together.Let us do it in wisdom and love and joy. Let us make this the human experience. -Gary Zukav I am so FULL of gratitude for this new experience. To be playing and competing again, to have joined a team of such incredible souls, and to have been introduced to such a loving community of people. The richness I feel is overflowing💜 #hinodebarueri

A post shared by carlilloyd3 (@carlilloyd3) on Jan 28, 2018 at 9:28am PST

Recaps

• BRB/Brasília beat Renata Country/Valinhos 3-1 (12/25 16/25 25/16 20/25) behind Maria Luisa‘s (Malu) 25 points. Paula Mohr had 16 points in the losing effort. Brasília was held to only 35% hitting.
• Dentil Praia Clube/Uberlândia beat Vôlei Nestlé/Osasco 3-0 (20/25 24/26 20/25) behind Ellen Braga’s 11 points. Beatriz Correa had 16 points in the losing effort. Osasco gifted Praia with 27 points from errors while being held to 36% hitting.
• Pinheiros beat Sesc/RJ 3-0 (25/17 25/15 25/19) behind Bruna Honório‘s 18 points. Domingas Araujo had 10 points in the losing effort. Pinheiros hit 56% as a team while holding Sesi to only 35% hitting.
• Fluminense beat São Cristovão Saúde/São Caetano 3-2 (23/25 25/19 25/20 17/25 12/15) behind Thais Souza‘s 24 points on 23/39 (59%) hitting. Sabrina Machado had 26 points in the losing effort.
• Camponesa/Minas beat Sesc/RJ 3-0 (21/25 22/25 20/25). The competition’s website has not yet released this game’s stats.

Team of the Week: Brasília

Brasília‘s game against Valinhos was somewhat of a finals match. Both teams were playing for first division survival. With the win, Brasília confirmed its permanence in Superliga, while Valinhos was relegated even with still two matches to play. Once thought at the beginning of the season to be the competition’s weakest team, Brasília‘s girls rallied together to pull off impressive wins and survive against much tougher opponents. Congratulations!

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#GoBrasília – 17/18

A post shared by Brasília Vôlei (@brasiliavolei) on Sep 28, 2017 at 12:05pm PDT

Player of the Week: Malu

Here is what Malu had to say of her hopes for the season in an interview given to VolleyMob before the season even began:

“Despite all the criticism we’ve received as a team, we know that we are competitive enough to fight against our competition for a playoff spot. Off the court, I hope to help Brasília by passing on everything I’ve learned about volleyball to my younger teammates. On the court, I’ll do whatever is necessary to help Brasília win!”

She did just that, delivering 25 points, including 4 aces and 2 blocks, in Brasília‘s most important game of the season. Because of her clutch play, Brasília has won the right to remain in Superliga in 2018-19.

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Brasília agora é sua casa, Malu! Bem-vinda! #GoBrasília

A post shared by Brasília Vôlei (@brasiliavolei) on Jul 5, 2017 at 1:06pm PDT

Standings