Türkiye edge Brazil 3-1 to win second VNL title (Photos)

Turkiye triumphed in Sunday’s final of the women’s Volleyball Nations League 2026 against Brazil to lift the trophy for the second time in the history of the competition, after their first title in 2023.

They also have one silver and one bronze in their collection.

The South Americans once again stopped just short of claiming their first VNL gold and had to settle for their fifth silver.

Earlier in the day at the VNL Finals in Macao, Italy grabbed the bronze.

Turkiye’s opposite Melissa Vargas was honored as the Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the women’s VNL 2026.

She also emerged as the best scorer of a single VNL final match ever.

In a thrilling gold medal showdown in front of four thousand fans in the stands in China, Turkiye put together a 3-1 (23-25, 25-23, 26-24, 25-21) turnaround victory over Brazil.

With 22-year-old outside hitter Ana Cristina on fire and the Brazilian offense dominating on the court, the South Americans stayed ahead in the score for the most part of the first set.

They even opened up a five-point gap at 23-18, when Turkiye scored four in a row to get back to within one.

The Europeans, however, never managed to close the gap completely, as sub-in opposite Kisy Nascimento fired the 25-23 set winner for Brazil.

It was Turkish opposite Melissa Vargas’s turn to shine on the court in a hard-fought nip-and-tuck second set.

She scored away as the fierce battle unfolded on the court.

In the money time, outside Hande Baladin had her say in pushing Turkiye forward to match point, herself delivering the 24^th point with a monster block.

Finally, it was Vargas who hammered the last point of the set for 25-23.

Another set of hammer-and-tong volleyball offered several changes in the momentum as the lead went back and forth a few times, while the gap, one way or another, exceeded two points only momentarily, at 8-5 Brazil’s way.

Vargas kept nailing point after point (11 in set three) as the set was eventually pushed to overtime.

Turkiye closed it off on their second set point at 26-24 on a spike out of bounds by Ana Cristina.

Brazil mounted a fierce comeback from a six-point deficit they were facing at 8-2 and at 13-7 in the fourth set.

After a four-point series on Ana Cristina’s turn to serve, they even stepped in front with a 19-18 lead, but it was short-lived.

Spearheaded by Vargas, Turkiye regained control in the money time of the set and powered on to a 25-21 win, shaped up with a clever tip on two by setter Elif Sahin.

It was Turkiye’s fewer unforced errors – 12 against 17 by Brazil – that made the biggest difference in the match.

The winners also slightly outplayed their opponents in blocking, by 14-13 in stuffs.

Melissa Vargas was by far the best scorer of the game with a solid 33 points to her name, the most anyone has ever scored in a VNL final match in either gender.

Spiking at a 51% success rate, she delivered 27 points in attack and added three aces and three kill blocks to her impressive tally.

Outsides Hande Baladin and Ilkin Aydin put away 19 and 15 points for Turkiye, respectively.

“I don’t know how to put it in words! Really!” an elated and tearful Turkish libero and captain Gizem Orge told VBTV during the celebrations on the court right after the match”. 

“It was a really tough game and I want to congratulate Brazil. Their fight was incredible! It was a really great final game”. 

“I played with a really big pain in my knee… I am so proud of everyone, who put in efforts for this team. We did an amazing job! I am so happy!”

Brazil played level with Turkiye in offense with 61 successful swings each and in serving with seven aces each.

They had four scorers in the double digits, with Ana Cristina leading the way with 25, including three blocks and two aces, followed by opposite Rosamaria Montibeller with 19, outside Julia Bergmann with 15 and 22-year-old middle blocker Luzia da Silva Nezzo with 11.

Photos