NAGOYA – Powerhouse Brazil won its fifth straight match with a 3-0 demolition of South Korea to claim the title with an undefeated record at the women’s volleyball World Grand Champions Cup on Sunday.
Sheilla Castro had 19 points while Fabiana Claudino followed with 17 as the South American team took the title of the tournament for the first time after a 25-19, 25-18, 25-20 victory at Nagoya Sports Complex.
The victory meant a golden double in Japan for the Brazilians, who won the World Grand Prix in Sendai in July.
The United States, which pounded host Japan 28-26, 25-23, 25-16 in the final match of the competition, took silver while China placed third to secure the bronze.
The South Koreans had no answer for the powerful service blasts from the Brazilians, who penetrated their defensive line with a relentless onslaught, centering on kills from Castro.
Brazil dropped just two sets in the five-day meet and credited its win to a combination of solid service reception and uncanny teamwork.
“We’ve made much of service reception, without which our good passing would be meaningless,” said coach Jose Guimaraes.
Athens Olympic gold medalist China came from a set down to defeat European champion Poland 17-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-20, improving its mark to 3-2 and leaving Japan out of medal contention.
Poland, Japan and South Korea finished with 1-4 records, for fourth, fifth and sixth places, respectively, based on point-ratio difference.
In the final match, Nancy Metcalf had a game-high 21 points for the U.S. team while Ai Otomo and Saori Kimura were limited to 10 each for Japan.
Japan took temporary leads in the first and second sets, taking target practice at American ace Tayyiba Haneef with powerful serves, but let the game slip away with a series of errors.
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