Brazil hands USA first defeat after 9 straight wins

TURIN, Italy, September 29, 2018 - With both teams giving court time to their subs (more or less) and resting key players ahead of Saturday's semifinals, Brazil shut out USA 3-0 (25-20, 25-18, 25-19) to finish atop of their pool in Round 3 of the 2018 FIVB Men's World Championship.

Both had already qualified to the semifinals and the result only served to determine who finished first and who second.

It was USA's very first defeat in the competition, after a run of nine straight wins. This leaves no team with a perfect record at the 2018 World Championship.

Evandro Guerra and Carlos Barreto had 19 and 11 points, respectively for Brazil. Jeffrey Jendrik and Jake Langlois each had 9 points for USA.

The Brazilians outscored USA 45-24 in attacks and 9-7 in aces. The Americans had the advantage in blocks 7-4.