The FIVB Volleyball World Grand Prix Macao 2016, organized by Sports Bureau of the Macao SAR Government and Volleyball Association of Macao, China and presented by Galaxy Entertainment Group, today (17 June) at the Macao Forum.  China led the tournament as the only undefeated team with a thrilling win over Serbia, whilst Brazil rebound from last night’s defeat by winning against Belgium.

Brazil tapped a 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-15, 25-18) victory over Belgium in the first match of the day. Juciely Barreto's 19 points with 6 kill blocks and Sheilla’s 17 kills and 2 aces led Brazil to fourth ever victory against Yellow Tigers in the competition. 

Brazil fulfilled its plan of a rebound after a loss to Serbia on the first day in Macau. Olympic champions have won all of the four matches against Belgium, with today's lost set being the only one ever. Both teams have only been playing against each other recently, including last year's edition of the World Grand Prix. On Brazil's side both Juciely Barreto and Sheilla Castro scored 19 points for their team, but impressive six kill blocks of Juciely make her stand out among her teammates. Lise Van Hecke proved to be her team's leader yet again, scoring 16 points. Belgium takes on Serbia tomorrow in the early match while Brazil plays China to close out Group D play.

The Belgian side started strong after yesterday’s loss to China and led Brazil by two at the first technical time out. Brazil did grab the lead back at 12-11 but the Belgians were not to be outdone and battled back with some excellent blocking to lead 16-14 at the second technical timeout. It was a back and forth battle until Juciely made a terrific block to give Brazil the lead at 22-20. Belgium wasn’t done and used its excellent defense to score five of the next six points to take the set 25-23.

Brazil performed better in set two, taking an early 14-8 lead. Danielle Lins did a great job of distributing the ball and this kept the Belgian block off-balance for much of the set. Belgium fought back to within three at one point but never got closer as Brazil took set two 25-19.

It was Brazil’s turn to show some dominant blocking as Juciely and Sheilla made consecutive blocks to help their side to an early 6-2 lead. This forced a time out by Belgium but Brazil stayed in control and extended their lead to ten points at 14-4. Brazil maintained its big lead the rest of the way and closed out the set 25-15.

Brazil continued to roll in set four and jumped out to a 4-0 lead, forcing another early time out from their opponents. Trailing by six, it was Lise Van Hecke who made a great back-row kill to bring her team to within three points. Belgium continued to battle and eventually trailed by only one point. But it was Brazil who had the lead at the second technical time out 16-13. Brazil maintained at least a three-point lead throughout and took the final set 25-18.

China then battled back to defeat Serbia 3-2 (27-25, 17-25, 20-25, 25-22, 15-9) in the second match of the day. Both opposites Ting Zhu and Jovana Brakocevic ruled at the net trying to bring their teams second victory in Macau. 

Teams competed to take on leader's position in Macau after winning their matches against Belgium and Brazil the day before. China ties rivalry with Serbia in World Grand Prix as both teams now have three victories against each other in the competition's history. None of their encounters have even ended in straight sets.

Ting Zhu led China with 15 kills and Ni Yan contributed 4 blocks. Jovana Brakocevic led Serbia with 20 kills. Serbia takes on Belgium tomorrow in the early match while China plays Brazil to close out Group D play.

Serbia started with a much different lineup from yesterday’s match, leaving Brankica Mihajlovic, Maja Ognjenovic and Tijana Boscovic on the bench. Serbia played well without these three and only trailed 8-7 at the first technical time out. While China did pull ahead by four points, it was Serbia who fought back to take its first lead at 18-17. The Serbians continued to play well ultimately leading 23-21. This prompted China to bring in setter X. Ding. This sparked the Chinese to regain the lead and take the set 27-25.

Serbia pumped up its game in set two, taking an early 9-5 lead. Bianka Busa led the way as she completed kills from both the front and back row. The Chinese block couldn’t stop their opponents’ attack and Serbia had a 16-9 lead at the second technical time out. Three serving errors by China allowed Serbia to take a bigger lead and ultimately claim set two 25-17.

Early in set three neither team could manage more than a one point lead. Brakocevic carried the Serbian team, making six kills before the first technical time out. After that break it was the Serbians who pulled ahead by four, causing the Chinese to again bring in Ding as setter. The Chinese reduced the deficit to one point but it was the Serbians who scored six of the last eight points to capture set three.

Serbia started strong in set four taking an early 3-0 lead. The Chinese setter Ding used her tough float serve to bring China back into the set at 4-4. From that point forward the Serbians were the dominant team, racing ahead to an 11-5 lead. But it was the Chinese who battled back to tie the match at 14-14, electrifying the fans in the process. The Serbians appeared to lose focus from that point forward as the Chinese pulled ahead 20-16. Serbia clawed its way back to take the lead 22-21, but the Chinese reeled off the next four points to win a very entertaining set.

The Chinese were the more consistent team in set five, earning the early lead at 8-4. Two Serbian service errors allowed the Chinese to take a 10-6 lead and this provided the momentum necessary for the Chinese to take the set 15-9.

The last day of the competition will see Belgium playing Serbia at 1300, followed by the highly anticipated China v Brazil game at 1530.