Sada Cruzeiro celebrate reclaiming the trophy at the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship.
Lausanne, Switzerland, December 31, 2015 - Brazil's Sada Cruzeiro of Contagem reclaimed the world club crown which they had first won in 2013 and then lost in 2014, after a dominant performance at the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship.
Sada Cruzeiro players with trophy and gold medals.
Sada Cruzeiro lost in pool play to Russia's Zenit Kazan 3-1 (25-20, 25-18, 19-25, 25-20), but both made it through to the semifinals, at the expense of Club World Championship debutantes Capitanes de Arecibo of Puerto Rico.
Meanwhile, Iran's Paykan Tehran and Argentina's UPCN San Juan were advancing to the semifinals through the other pool, both defeating Egypt's Al Ahly of Cairo. Paykan won the deciding match for first place 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-22).
Paykan Tehran's Nikolay Nikolov spikes past the UPCN San Juan block of Petar Krsmanovic in pool play.
This brought Sada Cruzeiro up against Paykan Tehran and Zenit Kazan opposite UPCN San Juan in the semifinals. Both encounters were decided in straight sets - Zenit's 3-0 (25-23, 25-21, 25-20) and Sada Cruzeiro's 3-0 (25-19, 25-17, 25-17).
And then in the final itself, Sada Cruzeiro scored the most important win of them all, downing Zenit Kazan 3-1 (25-20, 21-25, 27-25, 25-21) to bring the trophy back to Brazil.
Yoandy Leal was the man who led Sada Cruzeiro to glory and was rewarded with the MVP award.
Yoandy Leal of Sada Cruzeiro with the club's president, Vitorio Mediolli.
Dream Team of the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship: MVP, Yoandy Leal Hidalgo (Sada Cruzeiro); Best Outside Hitters,Wilfredo Leon (Zenit Kazan) & Todor Aleksiev (UPCN San Juan); Best Middle Blockers, Nikolay Nikolov (Payakan Tehran) & AleksandrGutsalyuk (Zenit Kazan); Best Opposite, Maxim Mikhaylov (Zenit Kazan); Best Setter, William Arjona (Sada Cruzeiro); Best Libero, Sergio Nogueira (Sada Cruzeiro).
Final ranking of the 2015 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship: