Japan vs. Brazil
Brazil improved to 2-0 while Japan fell to 1-1.
A missed shot by Ebata at the end of the first set, gave Brazil set-point and a Fernanda Rodrigues kill put Brazil 1-0 up.
Two Japan errors at 21-21in second set handed the advantage to Brazil and Thaisa Menezes earned setpoint with a big hit down the middle. A mixup on the Japan side of the net put Brazil 2-0 up.
In third set, Brazil move to five points lead at 20-15 when Thaisa made a huge block on Nagaoka and there was no way back for Japan after that. Successive blocks by Thaisa and Rodrigues brought setpoint at 24-17 and Thaisa sent a shot down the middle to finish the match.
Brazil had 15 blocking points to Japan’s seven, but Japan dominated serving 7-1.
Gabriela Guimaraes was Brazil’s top scorer with 19 points while Yukiko Ebata led Japan with 11.
To read more articles from this competition click on World Grand Prix 2013.
