I missed a lot this weekend, both in NCAA play and other matches leading up to this one at the World Grand Prix finals. But I'll be damned if I was gonna miss this one.
World Grand Prix runs a simple pool play for its final round, so a match like this was hardly guaranteed to happen. But this was a big one, a nice spectacle. Brazil and China entered tonight guaranteed to finish first and second, having both won all four previous finals matches. The advantage was Brazil's, as they had swept every match coming into tonight, while China were extended to a full five sets twice. That meant that while a win in three or four sets for either side would decide the World Grand Prix itself, simply extending the match to five sets, win or lose, would likewise be enough for Brazil.
Fabiana Claudino got the ball rolling for Brazil, siding out on the first rally of the match. Then Brazil succeeded on a weird out-of-system play, with middle blocker Thaisa Menezes setting Sheilla Castro on the outside for the kill. The run reached three before Wang Yimei got the kill and sideout for China. But that was just a speed bump, as Brazil responded with three more in a row with Thaisa on the service line, prompting China coach Lang Ping to call time down 6-1. The girls in gold added one more after the timeout before Thaisa drilled the net with her serve on 7-2. Sheilla quickly got the sideout right back at the technical timeout, giving Brazil a commanding 8-2 lead.
Gabi Guimaraes made it 9-2 after the technical with a service ace. Yin Na and Ma Yunwen drew a point back at 10-5 with a nice double block against Fabiana, but Fernanda "Fe Garay" Rodrigues kept them from going on a run by finding the floor on the next rally. On the 12-6 rally, China overpassed a ball that looked like it should have been easier to handle, leading to an easy right-side kill for Sheilla. The point was awarded to China originally on the rally beginning 14-7, on a close in/out call on the Brazilian side. They (Brazil) challenged, and got the call overturned, going up by eight. That advantage held to the technical at 16-8, as Brazil executed a downright nasty triple block against Wang.
China drew back a point at 16-10, after a rare hitting miscue on the Brazilian side (Gabi's). Fe Garay got the sideout on the next rally with a beauty of a kill from the pipe, getting Brazil closer to set victory. Sheilla followed with an ace to make it an eight-point set once more. An ace from Gabi gave the Brazilians their first nine-point lead on 20-11. The set was perhaps exemplified by the rally ending 21-12, as Fe Garay scored a powerful kill from the left side, but there really wasn't much of a block opposing her (gigantic seams). Same thing happened on the rally ending 22-14, only that time Fe Garay hit around the block entirely. She made it look really easy. China took their second timeout on 22-14, but Brazil stormed to set point on 24-15. They converted right then and there after a hitting error from the China side.
Wang got the sideout on the first rally of set 2, but there again was Fe Garay to chop the Chinese block to pieces on the next one. Zeng Chunlei got the kill for the first service point at 3-1, sneaking the ball past Thaisa on the front line and Fabiana in the back row. This was the first lead the Chinese had had all night, but Sheilla erased it with a service ace that made it 4-all. Fabiana and Gabi's big block put the Brazilians ahead for the first time in set 2 on 5-4, and then a hitting error by Wang made it 6-4. They started to celebrate the point and I thought they were going to challenge the out call, but they didn't. I guess Lang Ping saw better than her women on the court. Brazil had a shot to go up three after Sheilla's serve on 6-4 was overpassed, but another hitting error by Gabi got the Chinese their sideout. Brazil continued to lead at the technical, but it was much closer than in set 1 — the margin was just 8-6.
Then after the technical came the first stretch of sideout-for-sideout in the match. Brazil scored next on serve to go up three at 12-9, prompting China's timeout. That didn't stop the momentum, as they made it four on the next rally. On the 13-9 rally, Thaisa hit the ball about 10 feet long swinging from the back row. She looked quite displeased with herself as she rotated out for the libero. China had trouble passing Sheilla's serve on 14-10, leading to one of those awkward plays where I think it is scored an ace, but it's not like the ball just fell in or anything (the team didn't legally return it). Zeng brought us to the technical timeout by being whistled for a ball handling error on the 15-11 rally.
And then the wheels kinda came off for the team in red. Brazil rattled off four straight, last a great double block by Fabiana and Fe Garay to make it 19-11. They smelled blood in the water (remember, they only needed to win 2 sets tonight to win the tournament), and the Chinese sideout on 19-12 was but a speed bump. Brazil scored three more to go up by ten for the first time at 22-12, and China called time. Yin swung straight into the left-side double block on the first rally back, and it wasn't much longer until set point. The final was 25-14, cinching the World Grand Prix championship title for the South Americans.
China again took the early lead in set 3, with Shen Jingsi and Yang Junjing double-blocking Gabi (no emptying the bench on the Brazil side) for 3-1. Wang provided one of the few real high points of the match for China with a solo block against Sheilla to make it 5-2 a little later. Fe Garay went boom from the pipe on the 5-3 rally for Brazil's first service point of the set. The Brazilians briefly came level on 6-all, but a Chinese sideout and a hitting error by Sheilla from the back row put the Asians on top at the technical for the first time, by 8-6.
The Brazilians may have kept their starters on the floor, but they looked like they were moving at about 80% speed for much of this set. Brazil coach Jose Guimaraes was actually prompted into taking his first timeout of the night on 11-7, the largest deficit his women had faced all night. Fe Garay quickly sided Brazil back out, and the team in gold added two more to get to within a point on 11-10. I had a little connection bobble there, and when I cam back it was 12-all. Gabi then found the floor to make it 13-12 Brazil, their first lead of set 3. Lang Ping called time when the score reached 14-12, and right there I guessed that Brazil would not surrender the lead. They reached a three-point lead at 16-13 and the second technical timeout with a kill from the middle by Thaisa.
As the set wore on, Brazil finally started to insert a reserve, namely Juicely Barreto. They still edged to a four-point lead for the first time in the set at 19-15. Credit to the Chinese, they never stopped playing hard. 20-16 was probably the longest rally of the match, with both sides having chances to terminate. Eventually the Chinese did to draw a point closer. The next rally was for shorter, but it too went to the Chinese on serve as Liu Congcong and Shen Jingsi put up the double block against Fe Garay. A very rare unforced error by Fe Garay followed, and it looked like China were making a game of it again. Thaisa quickly put those thoughts to bed with a couple of kills to make it 22-19, as the end of the match loomed. Lang Ping called time there.
A solo block from Fe Garay brought us to match point on 24-19. China sided out to stave off the first match point, but Brazil sealed a remarkable run to the gold on the next, and final, rally.
Brazil d. China (25-15, 25-14, 25-20)
Honestly, I was expecting a little more competitive of a match than this. I figured Brazil would win, but they won just as convincingly as every other match this week. They finish the finals 5-0 having not dropped a single set. They brought the strongest squad — most of their London Olympic squad was on the team for this tournament — but they still got it done, and my metaphorical hat is off to them.
One name I didn't use in this recap was that of Brazil setter Dani Lins. Like makeup or special effects in a movie, she enhanced the offence beautifully tonight without really sticking out (she did have a couple of kills on dump shots, as well as one ace). She got Woman of the Match for the night. I imagine Fe Garay will be named MVP of the whole tournament (possibly Thaisa, but Fe Garay would be my pick). She finished with 12 kills tonight, behind Sheilla's 15 to lead all scorers.
Congratulations to Brazil for winning the 2013 FIVB World Grand Prix.
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