Brazil 🇧🇷 vs. Japan 🇯🇵 - Semi Finals | Highlights | Women's VNL 2025

First server is Brazil's setter, Roberta. Beautiful pass to the middle, Wada. Watch out for Wada. Heidi now serving. Strong pass up front. Solo block. Shimomura reading that beautifully up front, squaring up those shoulders. Roberta goes to Josemaria in the back court. I really like that decision, diversifying the offense, just a little bit. You have the middle going on a slide. Then the D-ball. Ishikawa. Good first serve by Gabby. What an up by Fukudome. This is how Japan will wear you down. Roberta to Josemaria and again, Fukudome makes a nice touch on the ball. Roberta outside quick. Josemaria again. And this is the book on Japan. They will frustrate you until eventually you make the mistake so that the libero can get underneath it. Strong serve, well passed. Heidi, the body awareness turning around and attacking that. I love that. Just great awareness. High volleyball IQ to go. You don't have to have that part. Back. An absolute hammer. Just how fast that slide attack is, it's nearly impossible to get two blockers up, let alone one up. Yamada serve. Was that Marcel? Ishikawa. Back to Gabby, pulls it out. Quick swing. That is the signature Gabby swing. I love the fact that Gabby took this first ball. They brought this at a little bit further in on a rip. Heavy serve. And Japan takes the lead with a shutdown block. Good read Yoshino getting all the way in on it, noticing her middles a little bit late and dives those hands right back into the seam to shut it down. Ishikawa's serve is a laser. And the combination as Gabby comes inside, it's like an old fashioned extra the other way. This is so fun that Brazil does when you get late in sets, you don't expect teams to run new plays. But this is where they pull it out just to confuse. In this set, they started with Roberta in the last set. MacCreech came in halfway through. It's so good. Gabby's pass, good little one handed set back to Julia. Beautiful set from MacCreech going up one hander. Not only gets a good touch on it, but it's a. Ishikawa now behind the service line. She's served flat, hard. Gabby puts a good pass up and there's the quick offense of Brazil. And that's where Brazil is running its best when they can get a pass in system. Their offense is also really good. Perfect pass. Dent in the floor. Thanks, Julia. No questions about that one. Julia unloading on this ball based on the tempo. Highly knowledgeable fans first served by Gabby. Marcelli sets Gabby from the backcourt. Seki, great body control on that set. Almost great body control. He looked fine. Now we're looking at what on the outside. Oh, that hand on the follow through. Yeah, she's got a checkered hand. So Japan, they are down one challenge after that one. Marcelli out to Jose Maria. Power picked up. Seki, flowing offense by Japan. Marcelli, Jose Maria well off the net on that one. Gives Wada an opportunity. Whoa, beautifully chased down. Free ball. Marcelli gives her teammates time to get back on the floor before she absorbs that from Ishikawa. Flying out of nowhere. Manami Kojima. I think I'm bigger than you. That's Ishikawa. This is what we expected from Japan. Brazil relentless defense in the front and backcourts. Nothing falling on either side. Just when you think it's about to hit the floor, someone comes scooping under it to keep it alive. Wada picked up that ball's good. Seki outside block gets it done for Brazil and they take the lead. Jose Maria again, getting her team fired up. Great handwork reaching her right. Seki in a solo block. She goes after her, but Kojima says, I'll still take it. Bergman, patient waiting and no, she's not. She got called for reaching over. Oh, yeah, told you I'd be wrong. Marcelli out to Jose Maria. Laser, what a dig by Ishikawa over the head of Yoshino. She was head out in there. Hey, Gabby, clear over. One meter, 62. Bergman pass. See, that's the thing we were talking about. Stay away from Marcelli. Stay away from Gabby. But Bergman has great wrist away. A little cross body from her might change things up quite a bit. Beautiful dig by Fukudome. Ishikawa, Japan came out aggressively swinging. Julia Bergman saying, I'm not giving a free ball. Japan trying to outlast Bergman, digging ball after ball. Gabby thought for sure that ball was coming to her. Bergman, Fukudome, nice pass. Solo block. The middles was sass for Brazil. Yeah, a little finesse walking away with it. Julia taking control of the net. Already so far throughout this fourth set, Gianna and Julia doing it. Yoshino, oh my, send it back. Gianna Brazil's fourth block of this set, and they're only at eight points right now. Well, passed by Bergman. Half flying in. Fukudome made that happen, Gabby coming up through the middle, but they go to Bergman. And this time, Gabby, no doubt. Good play by Brazil. Serving for the set to push it to five. Gabby's pass is good. Everybody knows it's going to go to her at the end. Set was not quite it. Japan pushes it to a fifth set. Did you expect anything less in this semifinal? Not enough room. Seiki back to Wada again, denied. Pass is tight. Patience. Julia, since those couple of reaching beyond the net calls, everybody's been very patient. Five blocks for Gianna, she's still up front. Bergman, strong swing from the backcourt. Brazil is aggressive and it's serving them well. Gabby's serve is good. Yoshino blocked. Yoshino that time at going for hands. I think their composure, even though they've been punched by Japan, they've responded incredibly well. I think really that focus on the next play has been really evident on their side. Yoshino serving. Pass by Gabby. Bergman with a laser and Brazil outlast Japan in five.