Nanjing, China, July 4, 2019 – Brazil’s Ana Beatriz Correa made more than half of Brazil’s 15 blocks in their tie-break win against Poland at the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League on Thursday.
Ana Beatriz had a prolific day in scoring as she recorded 22 points, including the eight blocks that drove Brazil into the semifinal round.
The Brazilians trailed their European counterparts who led 2-1 in the match, but Ana Beatriz led her squad on offence and defence to force the tiebreaker and keyed in crucial points that gave them the advantage in the final set, including the match winner.
“It feels good to seal the match with a block,” Ana Beatriz said. “I was having a good day on defence and my connection with our setter was good, so I am glad about this result.”
With the comeback win, Brazil made up for their five-set loss to Poland in the preliminary round. Ana Beatriz said that the key difference in those two matches had been her team's attack and block.
“The defensive system was better today. It was important because the block was better against Poland’s opposite spiker (Malwina Smarzek), who is really good. In our first match against them we weren’t able to stop her, but fortunately we were able to do that today.
“They are a tall team so they were able to block us a lot the first time, but we attacked better today, so that was the main difference between the two matches.”
Blocking has always been Ana Beatriz’s advantage but she continuously works hard in training to keep this defensive strength.
“I’m young and I love to block. I practice a lot on this skill by working on my timing on the ball.”
When asked about the player that she would like to defend at the net, Ana Beatriz chose an Italian player.
“I want to play against Paola Egonu because she plays very well. She is very tall and she has really long arms, plus she’s quick so it’s difficult to stop her. I wasn’t able to play against her this season, so it would be really good to do that here.”
Ana Beatriz has proven that she’s fearless at the net and her coach Jose Roberto Guimaraes commended her great skills on defence.
“She is a smart player and that’s what makes her a great middle blocker,” Ze Roberto said.
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