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| The Brazilian stars of Sollys Osasco, including Jaqueline Carvalho, celebrate their victory in Pool A's opening match |
However it was not an easy ride for the South Americans who struggled a in the last section of the second set where the Thais almost turned the score around after trailing at 23-18. Natalia was the top scorer of this game with 20 points while two players –Chaisri and Tinkaow – bagged nine apiece for Federbrau.
With a roster including some of the most accomplished and decorated Brazilian stars of the past few years – such as Jaqueline, Natalia and Thaisa - Sollys Osasco travelled to Qatar with the clear ambition to vie for the crown here at the 2010 FIVB Club World Championships. Their first opponent in Pool A, Thailand’s Federbrau, certainly lacks physical skill as the side lack height, but nevertheless Asian teams are always extremely tricky and very hard to edge out. The South Americans girls in orange jerseys set the rhythm all the way through in the opening set and stamped a massive 25-15 lead to immediately assert their dominance, with Natalia and Jaqueline displaying all of their repertoire for the delight of the Qatari audience.
Things got more complicated in the second set as Federbrau found momentum and was even setting the pace by the first stop (8-6). Right after that the score stayed extremely close before the Brazilians finally restored their rule (18-14), forcing the Thai coach into a couple of time-outs. Federbrau closed the gap with two spikes in a row to take it to 21-18 and Brazilian mentor Luizomar Moura – who last year headed the youth national team to a gold medal at the World Championships in Thailand – called back his girls to re-organize a their ideas. That paid off very quickly with Sassà scoring the next two rallies with a couple of crosscourt spikes. Natalia contributed a flurry of set balls with an ace but then Osasco missed three chances in a row and Moura asked for a break to avoid any additional chances for Federbrau. Federbrau fended off the next set ball with good defense and another attack from the middle, before Natalia spiked out for the 24 all. Sassà did not shake as she attacked from the wing and Jaqueline finally closed the set with a mighty kill that the Thai receiver could not control.
Fans had enjoyed the game and a few were loudly supporting the Thai girls as they embarked on their quest to stretch the game to a fourth set. They stayed in tune and even got the upper hand at the second technical break (16-14). After a long and much disputed rally, Sollys Osasco regained the lead at 19-18 but as things approached the end, Federbrau tied at 23-all with some luck in reception and a winning serve from Chaisri Tapapaiphun. Thaisa blocked for the first match ball but the Asian girls were not yet ready to go down and tied at 24 and 25. A few seconds later Sassà spiked long to give the Thais their first set ball but Onuma Sittirak also served long. The final rush was really exciting as teams exchanged the lead a few more times before Natalia finished the job with a winning serve.
Source: FIVB
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