Sesi
Sesi came to Rio de Janeiro with a difficult, but not an impossible task to win the best possible seed for the playoffs, which in their case was No.3. And they did it by beating the home side Sesc in four sets. Sesi climb from the fourth to third spot in the standings not only thanks to own victory but also thanks to the defeat of EMS Taubaté Funvic to Sada Cruzeiro in the second big match of the round.
Alan Souza topped Sesi with 21 points, while Gustavo Bonatto “Gustavão” added 5 kill blocks. Renan Buiatti scored 15 points for Sesc, who ended second-placed despite losing the third straight Superliga game.
Cruzeiro came in full force against Taubaté in a game that did not mean anything to them as they secured top-spot for the playoffs earlier, but it could mean a lot to their rivals in case of winning – 3-1 (25-15, 22-25, 25-23, 25-17). As much as three red cards were shown by the first referee, two for Cruzeiro players and one for the visitors.
The Cuban middle blocker Robertlandy Simón was starring in the match as he served 9 aces for Cruzeiro. Evandro Guerra topped defending champions with 20 points, while Rodrigo Leão made 83% reception (12 digs, 2 errors). Wallace Souza and Otávio Pinto scored 10 points apiece for Taubaté.
The 2017/18 Superliga best-of-three playoff quarterfinal bracket:
No.1 Cruzeiro vs. No.8 Canoas
No.2 Sesc vs. No.7 Vôlei Renata (Campinas)
No.3 Sesi vs. No.6 Corinthians
No.4 Taubaté vs. No.5 Minas
To see complete results, stats, and standings, visit our BRA National Championship 2017/2018 / Male / Seniors page.
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