Uberlandia, Brazil, April 27, 2019 – Itambe/Minas Belo Horizonte are the new champions of the women’s Superliga in Brazil. They closed the best-of-three championship series against Dentil/Praia Clube Uberlandia to reach their first national title since 2002 and crown a successful season with another trophy, after winning silver at the FIVB Club World Championship and gold at the South American Club Championship, the Brazil Cup and the Mineiro State Championship.
Itambe/Minas mastered a 3-1 (17-25, 25-23, 25-14, 28-26) comeback win at Dentil/Praia Clube on Friday at the culmination point of the championship and triumphed with the title after winning all six of their playoff matches and 20 of their 22 regular season games in the Superliga. In the first match of the gold medal series, the team from Belo Horizonte emerged with a 3-2 (28-26, 25-22, 17-25, 17-25, 15-6) home victory.
Itambe/Minas’s playmaker Macris Carneiro was named MVP and best setter of the Superliga season. “If this was possible, it's because the team made it possible for me to give my best. It was great to play with everyone. What is more difficult than getting to the top is staying there. I know my qualities, but I also know that I still have things to improve," said the 30-year-old Brazilian international.
Gabriela Guimaraes and Natalia Zilio Pereira of the Itambe/Minas squad were also honoured on the season’s Dream Team. The two outside hitters were the top scorers of the last game and Natalia (23 points) was named the best player of the match.
“It was a fantastic season, and for me personally it will be marked forever in my career. To represent my city and my state and bring the title back to Minas after 17 years was an unforgettable experience,” commented Belo Horizonte born Gabi, member of the Brazilian national team, who was also Dream Team outside hitter at the Club World Championship and the South American Club Championship earlier this season.
Itambe/Minas’s 37-year-old Carol Gattaz was honoured Dream Team middle blocker and voted the fans’ favourite of the Superliga season. The other middle blocker position went to another Brazilian international, Ana Carolina Da Silva, player of Dentil/Praia Clube. The opposite of the runners-up, USA’s Nicole Fawcett, was the only non-Brazilian to make the Dream Team. Bronze medallists Osasco/Audax grabbed one individual award – the one for best libero Camila Brait, who has also been called up to the national team ahead of the 2019 FIVB Volleyball Nations League.
While the club season in Brazil is now over, the fans will soon be able to see a lot of the heroines, who shone in the Superliga season, in action with their national teams in the VNL, starting in a little over three weeks. The national team of Brazil is set to start its 2019 VNL campaign at home, in the capital Brasilia, entertaining Olympic champions China on May 21, the Dominican Republic on May 22 and Russia on May 23.