Brazil To Use 10 Olympians In World League Finals

2017 FIVB WORLD LEAGUE – GROUP 1

• Group 1
• July 4-8
• Curitiba, Brazil
• FIVB World League Finals
• Schedule/Results

Brazil finished in the second place position in Group 1 of the World League, concluding the preliminary rounds of the tournament. They finished the tournament with a 6-3 record.

All of Brazil‘s losses came to teams that did not make it to the finals, including Argentina who finished the tournament in 10th place in the last week of play. In week one, the Brazilian team dropped their first match of the World League to Poland in a five-set match, but bounced back in week two in a revenge match, taking down the Poles. Bulgaria was able to take a match off Brazil in the second week in four, to which they sought and took revenge over the Bulgarian crew in week three.

Key Contributors

• Ricardo Lucarelli Souza – Souza ranks eighth overall and fifth, in relation to teams left in the World League, in points scored with 124 on 107 kills. In not only attacks, Souza has been a dominant force from the serving line with 14 aces over the nine matches played so far.
• Mauricio Borges Almeida Silva – Silva comes in at second in the squad in points scored with 79. Though not a high scorer, Silva has been a strong presence at the net with 11 blocks.
• Wallace de Souza – After not competing in the first two weeks of preliminary play, de Souza made an appearance in the third week to help the Brazilian crew. Over the course of just three matches, de Souza put down 52 points on 47 kills, three blocks and two aces.
• Bruno Mossa Rezende – Of all the setters in the competition, Rezende led the pack with 6.58 assists per set, ranking first among setters.

The Brazilian squad returns all but two players to their finals roster that competed at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The squad led Brazil to the Olympic championship. At the Olympics, de Souza led the field with 147 points on 131 kills, nine blocks and seven aces. Lucarelli Souza was also a strong contributor at the Games with 93 points scored.

Roster (* denotes 2016 Olympic team members)

• Bruno Mossa Rezende*
• Eder Carbonera*
• Wallace de Souza*
• Lucas Eduardo Loh
• Tiago Brendle
• Murilo Radke
• Thales Hoss
• Raphael Vieira De Oliveira
• Otavio Henrique Rodriguez Pinto
• Rodrigo Leao
• Luiz Felipe Marques Fonteles*
• Mauricio Souza*
• Douglas Souza*
• Lucas Saatkamp*
• Evandro Guerra*
• Ricardo Lucarelli Souza*
• Mauricio Borges Almeida Silva
• Renan Buiatti

The Brazilians are reworking their line-up due to injuries sustained at the competition, which will have a significant impact on their play in the finals. Buiatti was called up recently to the team after Guerra was determined not able to compete in the finals after an injury suffered after the first week of play. Guerra led after week one of play with 68 points, but thrombosis in his right forearm disqualifies him from the remainder of the competition. Fonteles is also out for the finals as he strained his calf in the final week of the preliminary matches. Both players competed at the Olympics.

Final Six Play

Brazil will first take on Canada in their first match of the final six on July 4, followed by Russia on July 6. Depending on the results of the matches will determine if they will move on to the semifinals on July 7.