A commanding performance in their second match of the second week of the Volleyball Nations League 2025 in Chicago propelled Brazil to the top of the tournament standings on Thursday.
Following a 3-0 sweep against Canada the previous day at the NOW Arena, the South Americans repeated the result against China, defeating the Asian side 3-0 with set scores of 25-22, 25-16, and 25-23. This victory marks Brazil`s fourth consecutive win.
Becoming the first team to achieve five victories in the VNL 2025, Brazil accumulated 15 points, moving ahead of Poland, who currently sit on 13 points and had no match on Thursday. Poland has an opportunity to reclaim the top spot when they face Canada on Friday at 19:30 local time (00:30 GMT, Saturday) in Chicago.
Opposite hitter Alan Souza, who earned a starting position in the team`s lineup during the first week in Rio de Janeiro, continued to be a key contributor for Brazil, leading the scoring against China with a match-high 17 points (12 kills, four blocks, one ace). Outside hitter Henrique Honorato also made a significant impact, adding 14 points (12 kills, two aces).
For the Chinese team, the most productive players were opposite Wen Zihua with 15 points (all from kills) and outside hitter Zhai Dejun with 11 points (ten kills, one block).
Brazil faces tough opposition this weekend as they aim to maintain their leading position in the VNL 2025 standings. After a rest day on Friday, the South Americans are scheduled to play against current world champions Italy on Saturday and then take on the Paris Olympic silver medalists and FIVB World Ranking leaders Poland on Sunday.
Brazilian outside hitter Lukas Bergmann commented on the challenging schedule: “We’ll rest a little bit on Friday, but also prepare for the weekend. Our next match is against a really good team, and we need to focus on it. We’ll have just one training session, but we can adjust some details that didn’t work so well against China.”
In other matches in Chicago on Thursday, hosts the United States were set to play Canada later in the evening. Friday`s schedule includes China against Italy at 16:00 local time (21:00 GMT), followed by the match between Canada and Poland at 19:30 (00:30 GMT, Saturday).
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick