Taubate
Reigning champions Cruzeiro enter playoffs by suffering only one defeat in the Regular Season, which came in penultimate round after they already secured top position in the rankings. Marcelo Méndez’s wards finished Regular Season with a sweep against runners-up Brasil Kirin/Campinas, 25-20, 25-12, 25-11 Cuban Robertlandy Simón had 14 points (4 blocks) for Cruzeiro who will meet No.8 Lebes/Gedore/Canoas in the playoff quarter-finals.
Funvic/Taubaté somehow managed to remain second seed despite losing 3-2 to Juiz de Fora (Renan Buiatti 23 points) in the last round, 19-25, 26-24, 25-20, 22-25, 15-7 This one point that Taubaté won in the match was enough to keep them in front on third placed Sesi-SP and schedule playoff quarter-final clash with today’s rivals. It is important outcome for Taubaté since they might avoid title favorites Cruzeiro all the way until playoff finals (in case both advance there).
As for Sesi-SP, they did their best to keep No.3 chances alive by beating Caramuru/Castro in four sets (25-27, 25-22, 25-17, 25-23) thanks to 21 points from Lucas Saatkamp ‘Lucão’. Still, Taubaté took the second place in the standings because of the better set-ratio comparing to Sesi.
Superliga playoff quarter-final pairs (best-of-five series):
Sada Cruzeiro (1) – Lebes/Gedore/Canoas (8)
Funvic/Taubaté (2) – Juiz de Fora (7)
Sesi-SP (3) – Minas Tênis Clube (6)
Brasil Kirin/Campinas (4) – Montes Claros (5)
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