Betim, Brazil, October 27, 2015 - As a gift for the fans who went to Ginásio Divino Braga despite the bad weather, Sada Cruzeiro from Brazil began their roll at FIVB Men’s Club World Championship the best possible way - with a swift 3-0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-20) win over Puerto Rico’s Capitanes de Arecibo, wrapping up Day 1 schedule in Betim.
Sada Cruzeiro formed a power trio of scorers - Cuba’s Yoandy Leal and local stars Isac Santos and Filipe Ferraz led the way with 10 points each. For Capitanes, the best was precisely team captain Héctor Soto, also with 10 tallies.
On the first set, Sada Cruzeiro played some delightful volleyball, combining demolishing serves, fast attacking plays and a highly efficient counterattack. It wasn’t until after the 2nd TTO that Capitanes de Arecibo could chain a couple of points, but the gap was huge (18-8) and Cruzeiro smoothly won the opening episode, with a soft ace by opposite Wallace.
It wasn’t easy for the host team to keep such outstanding level, and they relaxed a bit as the game went on. Nevertheless, their superiority was never under any threat - with Isac, Leal and their service bombs, Sada Cruzeiro kept Capitanes away and awarded their fans in Betim a ray of light on a rainy evening.