Brazil is poised to begin the third and final week of the Volleyball Nations League 2025 Preliminary Phase leading the standings by two points, following their victory against Poland on Sunday in Chicago. This match marked their conclusion to the second week of the tournament.
The highly anticipated encounter between the current top two teams in the VNL 2025 was largely controlled by the South Americans. Despite the majority of the crowd at NOW Arena supporting their opponents, Brazil delivered a composed performance to secure a 3-1 victory with set scores of 25-21, 25-21, 21-25, 28-26.
Brazil finished the second week as the only team with seven wins from eight matches, securing four of those victories in Chicago where they remained undefeated. Their win against Poland brought them to 20 points, while Poland remained at 18 points (six wins, two losses) and consequently dropped from first to second place.
Opposite Darlan Souza, stepping in for his older brother Alan (who scored 31 points against Italy the previous day but was unavailable), was a key player for Brazil, delivering an impressive 26 points, all coming from kills.
Darlan humorously remarked, “After my brother played so well yesterday, I knew that if I didn’t do the same, he’d pick on me a lot, and I didn’t want to give him that opportunity. We have a very friendly competition. Both of us want to be on the court all the time, so we push each other to be better every day.”
Outside hitters Henrique Honorato and Lukas Bergmann each contributed 13 points, as did middle blocker Judson Nunes. Team captain and middle blocker Flavio Gualberto added 11 points.
On the Polish side, outside hitters Kamil Semeniuk was the most effective attacker with 17 points (16 kills, one ace), while Artur Szalpuk scored 15 (12 kills, three blocks). Middle blocker Jakub Nowak also reached double digits with 12 points, notably including seven blocks and five kills.
Setter Marcin Komenda commented, “It was a tough match because Brazil played really well, especially in the first two sets. But it was great that we came back, we fought until the end, and it was very close.”
By defeating the world`s top-ranked team, Brazil earned 14.04 FIVB World Ranking points, climbing from sixth to fourth place with a new total of 343.27. Despite the loss, Poland remains comfortably in first place with 396.13 points, over 30 points ahead of second-placed France (365.40).
Canada sweep China
In the day`s opening match in Chicago, Canada put on a strong performance, defeating China 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-23) to secure their first victory of the week. With this win, Canada finishes the second week of the VNL 2025 in 14th place, having accumulated 11 points from three wins and five losses. China is one position lower, with seven points from two victories and six losses so far.
Opposite Xander Ketrzynski delivered an excellent all-around performance, leading Canada with 21 points (14 kills, four aces, three blocks). Outside hitters Isaac Heslinga and Skyler Varga also achieved double-digit scores, registering 17 and 11 points respectively.
China`s most productive player was opposite and captain Jiang Chuan with 15 points (14 kills, one ace). Outside hitter Yu Yuantai added ten points with nine kills and one ace.
The second week of the VNL 2025 concluded with the match between hosts United States and Italy.
The VNL 2025 will have a one-week break before the men`s competition resumes from July 16-20. The pools will be held in Chiba, Japan; Gdańsk, Poland; and Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Jasper Thornfield 
Oliver Wrenwick