Brazil vs Japan | One of the Most Dramatic Matches in Women's Volleyball History !!!

Come back and get it. Pass is perfect. Good start. Idy up top. Read by Gabby. What a dig. It'll come to Ishikawa. Brought back. It's still alive. They're going to try to attack where she was. And indeed, they do. How about the hustle from Julia Kudise to chase that one down, nearly sending her body over the scores table for it. Love to see that from a middle blocker. And then there's that moment of, oh gosh, I better get back on the floor because I know exactly where they're going. Yeah, it's me. And I honestly would have loved to see the setter dump right there, just to really test her, see if she's in there fast enough. That's filthy. Gabby offhand as Brazil up by one again, late in this set. After 20, we call it the red zone, Emily. This is where Brazil is so good. In the final five or six points of a set, they really turn it on. They play very clean, but also stay aggressive. Ishikawa first contact. Yoshino up the middle. Good run from Japan, really mixing up where they're hitting this back row attack from. Moving it from the middle, more toward the right, more toward the left at times. What they're doing is really testing the blockers of where they are. That's causing a big seam for the hitter to go through. Heavy serve. And Japan takes the lead with a shutdown block. Good read. Yoshino getting all the way in on it, noticing her middle's a little bit late, and dives those hands right back into the seam to shut it down. Elisa Villarreal. That's exactly what this is. 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 the blockers even more. Perfect time to do it and perfect execution. Yeah, and you see the Japan block going, oh, here's there and there. However, you need to put two back-to-back in that serve. She's got a tough serve, has that couple aces. Marcel, nice pass. Ball's out. Set point, Japan. Jose Maria sets Bergman a second time, and it is indeed the second time that's turned. Gutsy swing from Bergman, who had just missed an attack and then went straight into the block, but stayed aggressive. That's what you want to see from your big attackers in these kind of moments. Set point number two for Japan. Wada gets it done. Yukiko Wada delivering. Despite a late push from Brazil. Hojima's pass is good. Hoberta, great dig. Flying in out of nowhere to pick that up was Seiki. There's Japanese flyers all over the place. That was a really smart decision to take out the setter. But even in a broken play out of system situation, Japan still gets a good swing on it going to the back corner. Really smart shot from Wada, splitting the defenders in the back. How about that up from Seiki? Even though it's a five point lead for Brazil very late in this set, there's no resting because all it needs is a run. From Japan, Wada from the service line, what a beautiful pass by Bergman. And now Brazil sits at set point to even the match at one apiece. Beautiful pass from Bergman right on the money. Gets Gabby going outside with tempo. Bread and butter right off the fingertips. Yuyoku Dice serving for the set. Ishikawa first ball, Yoshino. Satisfaction delayed for Brazil. Now Japan just trying to chip away at that lead. Playing as clean as possible. Taking big swings. As Yoshino goes back to serve. Roberto goes outside. What a dig, Yoshino. Ishikawa will swing. Here they come. Big transition play. How about that dig in the backcourt? Beautifully read. Getting right outside the blockers, putting in a great position. Third set. Serve is good. They go after Bergman as they have. Big swing. Roberto will go outside to Gabby, trying to put it away. But nope. Heavy roof by Japan. Big shutdown from the setter who just checked in for Japan up front. Beautifully read. Middle gets involved on it. All of a sudden, Japan's got more momentum. Set point number four. We got Tainara on one side. That is new. And Hitomi on the other. Pass is perfect. Running it as fast as they possibly can. Brazil captures set two and evens the match at one apiece. Hitomi in now as a frontcourt setter. Bergman off the block. She's having a day. Even with the bigger block, checking in right in front of her, Bergman continuing to just swing high and confident, doing exactly what she's done all night long and really all VNL long. She has been spectacular. Terminating the ball at 50% in this set is Julia Bergman. Five kills. They're conscious as ever of waiting for that ball. There's Julia. Yeah, much better adjustment from Julia midair, knowing that she's got to touch that ball. After it's crossed the plane, good finish. Marcelli out to Jose Maria. Laser, what a dig by Ishikawa. Over the head of Yoshino. She was head up there. Gabby doing a really smart thing, trying to go for high hands. But Japan's block so. Bergman pass. See, that's the thing we were talking about. Stay away from Marcelli. Stay away from Gabby. But Bergman has great passing numbers in this match. Bergman's doing just as good. So now it's kind of a pick your poison because you're assuming Brazil is going to be in system more times than not. Yeah, she's passing over 45 percent, killing the ball at over 43 percent. Think about passing, too. She's gotten better as the match has gone on. True. McCrease out to Gabby. That wind up and let it fly. It's like a slingshot. And such a smart decision here. Blockers a little bit on the move. Gabby knows they're reaching a bit, so she can easily just go right off those fingertips. Set point. Brazil. Shimomura. That was a heck of a pickup by McCrease. Wasn't the prettiest way to end the set, but Brazil will take it. Two set to one lead for Brazil. Bergman. Perfect pass. Sneaks in, too. She keeps that low to accelerate high. Bergman wanted that one. You could hear her screaming for that ball after getting a really good pass. She's heating up right now, and I don't know if Japan wants that. Double substitute on a team with Julia Bergman. Ishikawa. Marcelli. Fantastic. There it is off the block. A better dig. Ishikawa. The block and out. Point Japan. Japan's getting a lot of those plays, just quick tempo offense. The block's in a good spot, but because the arm swing is so fast, it's going off the block and out of bounds. There was another opportunity by Brazil to tie it up. Now they trail by two. Japan in the red zone past 20 points. Iraki. Well, that is a nasty brick wall that Bergman just ran into. Really good block. Really nice setup from Wada. Nice hand positioning going back in the court. Just shuts it down. Right back at her. To a fifth set battle with Japan, which is exactly the plan of the Japanese. Great chase by Hoberta. Japan is dialed in two points away. Japan just playing a very fast offense, getting chaotic balls on their side. Brazil trying to knock them out of system, but Japan finds ways out of it. Japan plus four. Iraki serving. This time it's Jose Maria coming in from the back court. And as always, Wada makes it work. Wada has been everywhere for Japan, really stepping up when they needed a player to completely take over. Iraki 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? Heck yeah. This is exactly what we wanted when Japan and Brazil meet up. It's always a battle. We've seen great defense explosive. Pass is good. Gabby knew we'd see that play again. Brazil normally pulls this out about once a set. Perfect time to do it. Perfect pass. Gets that two ball for Gabby up, even with three blockers up. They're all reaching. I don't know where they're going. Yeah, exactly. Well, they're all thinking, oh, it's that play again. Gabby's serve is good. Yoshino blocked. Yoshino that time, going for hands, does not before Brazil closed it out on the fourth. Over. Bergman. It's blocked and slowed down. Marcelo to Jose Maria. Kojima goes to Wada. Gabby's waiting for some action in the backcourt. Ishikawa. Is that lightning quick arm coming through for Japan? Chipping away at that lead. Again, Japan now has to stay as clean as possible to keep pressure on Brazil at the same time. That's two consecutively for Japan. Seiki. Pass on Bergman. Doesn't take her out of the offense at all. Love that set. Everyone thinks it's going to the middle, go right over it to bring up match point. Match point, Brazil. Will they have a date with Italy to vie for gold in Volleyball Nations League 2025? First touch is good. Seiki to the backcourt. Once again, Japan will delay Brazil. Just chipping away at that lead one by one. Set point number two, Brazil. Yoshino serving. Pass by Gabby. Bergman with a laser and Brazil outlast Japan in five to play in the gold medal match versus Italy. Just a gutsy performance from Brazil. We saw Japan continually fight back every single set. They found a way to do it in set two, set four as well. But Brazil eventually outlasts one of the toughest teams in the world to outlast.