Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, July 16, 2015 – Brazilian team entered on court only with victory in mind. That was the only result capable to maintain the host nation alive in World League Finals. With a 10,000 roaring fans support, Brazil recorded a 3-1 (28-26, 22-25, 25-22, 27-25) victory over the United States and made the crowd at Maracanazinho happy. Ricardo Lucarelli was the Brazilian best scorer with 21 points. Matthew Anderson had 30 points for the USA.
With the obligation to win, Brazil started with good offence and when Lucas Saatkamp hit the ace, the score was 6-4. At the other side, David Lee was making the difference with powerful strikes and blocks and the match followed competitive, with Brazilians maintaining a small lead. USA hit two aces with Matthew Anderson and then scored 17-15, but Brazilians defended well and avoided the USA comeback in the competitive end of the set: 28-26. Lucarelli scored seven points in the first set.
The match continued in a high and competitive level early in the second set while Brazilian flags covered half of the stands at Maracanazinho. Anderson was on fire but fast spikes by Lucarelli and Evandro maintained Brazilians on their feet with a score of 14-14. After an ace by Aaron Russel and a wrong spike by Lucarelli, the USA gets a 21-18 lead and then concluded scoring 25-22.
Evandro did his role in the third set. The opposite hitter and Brazilian defense made a big difference and the host team overcame the USA by 25-22. Brazilian team got confident with Lipe Fonteles on court, replacing Murilo. The team mentored by Bernardo Rezende faced some issues with Americans defense at the end of the fourth set, but reached the win by 27-25.
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