Brazil will compete at the Olympic Games for the 12th consecutive time since their debut at Moscow 1980. In their previous 11 appearances they have collected two Olympic titles (Beiing 2008 and London 2012), one silver medal (Tokyo 2020) and two bronze medals (Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000).
In a winner-takes-all encounter, Japan and Brazil engaged in an epic five-set battle. The Asians came back from a set down twice in the match before the South Americans could step in front again in the tie-breaker to claim a victory and, with that, the second place in the final pool standings on a 6-1 win-loss record and 16 points, leaving Japan below the cut-off line, in third on 5-2 and 15.
Each of the first three sets in itself offered the fans plenty of nail-biting drama and was decided only in the last rallies. With their backs against the wall, Japan completely dominated a one-sided fourth set to push the match to five. The South Americans stormed the tie-breaker on a 3-0 run, but the home team gradually fought their way back to a 10-10 level. Brazil broke away again and after running off with a 12-10 lead, Pri Daroit came in for the serve. She immediately added another point to Brazil’s advantage with a clean ace. Then a kill block by Rosamaria Montibeller brought in match point, converted by Pri Daroit herself with another ace for 15-10.
While Japan did better than Brazil in serving (8-4 in aces) and in attack (68-66 in spike kills), the South Americans slightly outblocked their opponents (13-12 in stuffs) and showed better accuracy (18-21 in unforced errors). Brazilian star outside hitter and captain Gabriela Guimaraes was above all in scoring. She contributed 23 points, including an ace, towards the victory. Outside Julia Bergmann added another 15, while middle blocker Thaisa Menzes and opposite Rosamaria Montibeller finished with 13 points apiece. Captain Sarina Koga and Kotona Hayashi led Japan with 18 points each.
