Brazil beats Bulgaria, but doesn't play well in Chiba

With Gabi and Rosamaria in the starting lineup for the first time this season, Brazil did not play well, but it was enough to defeat Bulgaria 3 sets to 1 - partial scores of 25-21, 27-29, 25-10, 25-19 -, in the early hours of this Wednesday (9/7), in Chiba, Japan, at the opening of the third stage of the 2025 Women's Volleyball VNL.

Rosamaria and Julia Kudiess were the individual highlights of the green-yellow team, which suffered in the reception and with the strong European block. Bulgaria played without four starters, rested by coach Antonina Zetova.

If they beat France this Thursday at 3:30 am (Brasília time) in the second round, Brazil will mathematically secure a spot in the final phase of the Nations League, which will take place between July 23 and 27 in the Polish city of Lódz. The game will be broadcast on Sportv, VBTV (Volleyball World streaming) and on the Web Vôlei channel on YouTube (no images). The Brazilian team's last two matches in the qualifying phase are against Poland on Friday and Japan on Sunday, both at 7:20 am. See below the games for this Thursday.

Coach José Roberto Guimarães made two changes to the Brazilian team from the last two rounds. Ana Cristina, the team's top scorer according to the International Volleyball Federation's statistics, was rested and captain Gabi was paired with Julia Bergmann on the wing. Opposite Rosamaria started for the first time. The rest of the starting lineup was made up of setter Macris, middle blockers Diana and Lorena and libero Laís. Kisy and Roberta came on during the match.

Middle blocker Julia Kudiess, who felt discomfort in her right knee at the end of the Turkey leg about 10 days ago, started on the bench, but came onto the court in the final stretch of the third set and stood out, with 11 points (5 from attack, 5 from blocks and 1 from serve). Gabi had a discreet performance in the first three sets, feeling the lack of game rhythm, with only 26% offensive efficiency. Rosamaria was the team's top scorer with 18 points, followed by Julia Bergmann (16), Diana (11), Gabi and Julia Kudiess (11) and Lorena (6).