VolleyBar72# : Tuesday August 25, 2026

On this day..
Amarcord and volleyball birthdays, Thomas Pujol, Jastrzębie Barkom, NORCECA Final Six and World Championship U17 and friendlies.

Welcome to 72th episode of VolleyBar, about volleyball stories collected for you around August 25. A golden day for Brazil, with Olympic history on the sand and two legendary figures celebrating their birthdays!
On this day in 2004, Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos made Brazilian beach volleyball history at the Athens Olympic Games, winning the country’s first-ever men’s Olympic gold medal in the discipline.
The Brazilian top seeds defeated Spain’s Javier Bosma and Pablo Herrera 21–16, 21–15 in just 43 minutes at the Faliro Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre.
The victory capped an extraordinary tournament for Emanuel and Ricardo, who won all seven of their matches in Athens. Their opponents were no strangers: the Brazilian pair had already beaten Bosma and Herrera in a two-set match during an event on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach in 2003.
The final also completed a memorable Brazilian day on the sand. While Emanuel and Ricardo took gold, Switzerland’s Patrick Heuscher and Stefan Kobel defeated Australia’s Julien Prosser and Mark Williams to claim bronze — Switzerland’s first Olympic medal in beach volleyball.
Emanuel would eventually compete at five consecutive Olympic Games, winning gold in Athens, bronze in Beijing in 2008 and silver in London in 2012. He was later inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2016.

One of the most explosive players in the history of women’s volleyball, Mireya Luis was born in Camagüey, Cuba, on August 25, 1967.
Despite standing only 1.75 metres tall, she became famous for her extraordinary jumping ability and attacking power. She helped Cuba win three consecutive Olympic gold medals — Barcelona 1992, Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000 — as well as three World Championship titles in 1990, 1994 and 1998.
Her athleticism was so remarkable that she was often compared to Michael Jordan, and she was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame in 2004, cementing her place among the sport’s all-time greats.

Another giant of Brazilian volleyball was born on this date: Bernardo Rezende, better known to the volleyball world as Bernardinho, celebrates his birthday on August 25.
Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1959, he first made his mark as a player, winning Olympic silver with Brazil at Los Angeles 1984. He then moved to the bench and built one of the most extraordinary coaching careers in international volleyball.
His influence on Brazilian volleyball spans generations, from the women’s national team to the legendary men’s teams that dominated the international scene for much of the 2000s and 2010s. In 2022, he was inducted into the International Volleyball Hall of Fame too.

August 25 therefore brings together three very different sides of volleyball history: an Olympic milestone on the beach, one of Cuba’s greatest champions, and one of Brazil’s most influential coaches!

___________________

Thomas Pujol’s time at Poitiers is coming to an unexpected end.
The Alterna Stade Poitevin VB has reached an agreement in principle for the departure of the 21-year-old French outside hitter, who had originally been expected to remain with the club for the next two seasons.

___________________

In Poland, Jastrzębie Barkom welcomes Wojciech Dudzik, who will represent the team as a middle blocker in the upcoming season.
Wojtek joins the club from Czech Republic’s VK Ostrava, but he is already very familiar with the Jastrzębie volleyball community. He is a graduate of the Jastrzębski Węgiel Talent Academy, where he took important steps in his volleyball development.
Meanwhile, the club have announced another addition to their receiving corps, outside hitter Bartłomiej Potrykus, from Karton-Pak Astra Nowa Sól.

___________________

USA swept Guatemala 3-0 (25:19, 25:13, 25:16) in its second consecutive win at the NORCECA Final Six in Ponce with 16 points from Jacob Pasteur (2 aces and 3 blocks) and 12 from Patrick Rogers.
And what a finish, as Mexico earnes its first win defeating Dominican Republic 3-0 (25:22, 25:17, 32:30). Mexico has 1-1 record and today’s rivals 0-2. Franky Hernandez and Yasutaka Sanay led the winners with 19 and 18 points, respectively.
In last game of the day, Puerto Rico improves 2-0 winning a five-set battle over Canada (now 1-1), 3-2 (25:22, 23:25, 25:23, 18:25, 15:9), with 21 points from Klistan Lawrence and 17 from Pedro Molina.

___________________

France edged out Spain in a five-set thriller to advance to the quarterfinals of Boys’ U17 Volleyball World Championship: 23:25, 25:19, 25:16, 23:25, 15:10.
Iran cruised past Chinese Taipei in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals too, 25:18, 25:19, 25:21.
Qualified also last year’s silver medalist Argentina, who dethrones reigning champions Italy in four sets in the Round of 16 to advance to the Final 8: 25:20, 25:23, 20:25, 25:16, Venezuela, who stages a sensational reverse sweep against Bulgaria, winning three straight sets after dropping the first two to secure a dramatic five-set victory: 28:30, 17:25, 25:19, 25:18, 15:12, and Brazil, after sweeping India in the Round of 16 in straight sets: 25:17, 25:13, 25:14.
Poland is through to the quarterfinals after staging an incredible comeback from two sets down to defeat Türkiye in a five-set Round of 16 thriller: 22:25, 25:27, 25:20, 25:22, 15:9.
Pakistan punches their ticket to the quarterfinals after staging another incredible comeback from two sets down to defeat Egypt in a five-set thriller, 17:25, 21:25, 25:18, 25:15, 15:12, while Romania secures their spot in the final eight, overcoming a third-set push from Tunisia to seal a four-set victory and advance to the quarterfinal: 25:16, 25:11, 23:25, 25:19.

___________________

About today’s friendly matches, the Brazilian men’s national team defeated Japan on Tuesday morning in a friendly match played at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
Bernardinho’s side secured a 3–1 victory, winning 25:23, 20:25, 25:19 and 28:26, with opposite hitter Darlan led the scoring with 18 points.
Brazil will now continue its preparations for the South American Championship, before travelling to Italy for the FIPAV Cup.
The tournament will feature Brazil, hosts Italy, Cuba and Germany.
Meanwhile, Indonesia sweep Cambodia in straight sets (18:25, 19:25, 22:25), while Bulgaria defeated Czech Republic with the same result (25:21, 25:19, 25:19).

___________________

👀|QUICK LINKS
• VolleyBAR 📝🏐
• Multimedia
• Facebook
• Instagram

___________________