Virna
Dias (BRA) |
 Virna giving a thumbs-up at the '99 World Cup in Japan. With that smile, isn't she just adorable? [Photo source: to be determined] Virna is a gimpy-footed outside hitter whose attack approach hasn't changed much over the years; but, she has gotten wiser. I first saw her play at the '89 Junior South American Championships in Venezuela, where Virna played alongside Fátima Santos and an unstoppable Ericleia Bodziak (later to be known as Filo). They lost the final to Peru in 5 sets (I really don't know how... back then Peru had someone named Katherine Horny who made a lot of points in some very odd ways), but then the Junior Brazilian National Team went on to win the World Junior Championships in Peru with a beefed up team that included Fernanda, Márcia, Kerly, and Ana Flávia. Virna wasn't the main star in any of the two lineups, and she stayed as a reserve for a while. The next time I saw her was at the '93 Continental Adult Championships in Cuzco. There, Brazilian coach Wadson Lima put his B Team to face Peru in pool play, a lineup that included Ana Paula Lima, Léila Barros, Andrea Moraes, and Virna. They lost 3-0 but some windows began to open to both Léila and Virna's talents in this sport. For the next year I heard bits and pieces of Virna, reading in the FIVB magazine that she had scored so many points in an important match, and how she was soon to integrate the Adult team and prove her worth, etc., etc. But it wasn't until the '94 Grand Prix that I saw her play and, Oh my god, was that the same girl who I saw all tentative and frustrated at the Junior level? She was hitting from the back row, jump serving, and her outside hitting was stronger, though nothing compared to Ana Moser or Hilma Caldeira. Still, Brazil's new coach Bernardo Rezende only put her in the easy matches, so in a way, Virna still hadn't arrived. While some of her junior teammates like Léila and Ana Paula Rodrigues (later Connelly) were already subbing in and out for more experienced players for full rotations, Virna was still kept in the sidelines. At the '94 World's in Brazil, she saw more playing time, but she was still not a starter. In the final against Cuba, Bernardinho subbed her in to jump serve, and she would either hit it into the net, or serve weakly, giving the Cubans an easy ball to pummel on the floor. Virna had still not arrived. One more year would pass with Ana Paula and Léila becoming regular starters (Léila because Ana Moser underwent knee surgery) but there were still few signs that Virna was going to be given that special chance. And then came Atlanta (with at least one good thing that emerged from such a tumultuous Olympic tournament): in pool play between Cuba and Brazil, outside hitter Hilma Caldeira injured her ankle, but she kept playing regardless of her injury and Brazil surprisingly won 3-0. But then I suppose that the pain grew to be too much for her to bear (that or Bernardinho saw that Hilma wasn't playing at 100% of her level) so in the next important match between these two rivals, Bernardinho finally put Virna as a starter. Alongside Ana Moser, Fernanda, Ana Paula, Ida, and Márcia, Brazil played one of their most memorable matches, but unfortunately, the match took a turn for the worse. In five sets the Cubans managed to shut down the most feared Brazilian player, Ana Moser, thinking that it would void the team of confidence and firepower. But just when the team needed some spark and most of all, points to stay alive, Virna delivered. The girl was absolutely sensational, hitting from positions 4 and 2, and from the back row in positions 1 and 6. Fernanda showed incredible confidence in this player who was replacing Hilma and doing much better than Hilma had ever done against the Caribbeans. Virna showed confidence, but not by overpowering the Cubans—which is everything short of possible—but by hitting smart balls, tooling Marlenys Costa and Raisa O'Farrill on the outside, dinking over Magaly Carvajal, and hitting in between the sloppy blocks of the middle and outside blockers when they were too late. At a moment when Ana Moser unfortunately was taken out of the game, Virna was totally in it. And slowly, as the team realised that it had its hopes had temporarily shifted, the other players began to push as well, especially Márcia Fu, who despite a couple of horrible mistakes in the fifth set has always done better than most of her teammates against Cuba. So with the Brazilian team pushing and fighting more out of heart than technique, they managed to balance things out with the Cubans, at least into the fifth set. Much was said afterwards of the end of the fourth set, which Brazil was winning and in which it could have sealed Cuba's fate by impeding their trip to the final. But some key blocks by the Cubans—appropriately on Virna—gave the Cubans the set. Criticism was thrown Virna's way which was unneedingly harsh; she was racking up kill after kill during the first four sets and it was more than logical that the Cubans finally get their block in synch over Brazil's unexpected go-to hitter. It came at a very bad time but what can one do? That's the way sports go...
 Virna hitting away from the Peruvian block at the '99 Continental Championships. [Photo source: to be determined] Everyone knows what happened after that. Read my article for Ana Moser if you want to know more about it. But the truth of the matter is that even though both teams played with a lot of passion and, yes, sometimes insults were exchanged across the net, never was such a reaction by the Cubans needed for the annals of Olympic history. So even if Brazilians will always remember a valiant Ana Moser facing 12 raging Cubans, the thought of losing that semifinal and having salt added to the wound is a most painful collective experience. Still, like I said, if there was one good thing that emerged from all this was the upstart of Virna's career. After Atlanta, Virna saw more and more time as a starter, and with much right, because she began playing amazing volleyball. Though in '97 Brazil didn't attend the Grand Prix, Virna kept herself active in Brazil's domestic league, the Superliga, where a number of foreign players like Danielle Scott, Tara Cross-Battle, and Cintha Boersma had helped elevate the league's already highly competitive level. By the time of the '98 Grand Prix, Virna was the team's leading scorer. The crowd pleaser had become Léila, who earned her second consecutive MVP award after defeating Russia 3-0 for the title, but Virna had become the more rational and instinctive player. As Virna cried at the end of the match with Russia, so did Léila who couldn't believe that they had won the month-long event after losing matches to Italy and Japan in the first phase of the competition. The whole Brazilian team felt extremely proud of setter Hélia "Fofão" Souza, who was replacing Fernanda and had to meet all of her expectations by no less than winning this tournament. And she did. Virna kept up her good level through the '98 World's in Japan where Brazil unfortunately didn't do as good as it should've had. Some blame Fernanda's return after she had been off the team for well over a year, while others blame the younger, more inexperienced players, and then others just said that there was too much shuffling around between who would play which position and so forth. In any event, Virna and Ana Moser both played well throughout the tournament, and there was no more thinking of Virna as a "younger" member of the team because she was playing at an equal level as Ana Moser and equally as mature. By '99, Virna had become Brazil's most consistent player. At the Pan-American Games in Winnipeg, she led her team to the final against their eternal Cuban rivals, and in a match where Léila and middle hitter Janina Conceição weren't playing their best, Virna stepped up her game to give confidence to the two young players whom Bernardinho subbed in for this crucial match: Walewska and Elisângela (both Oliveiras, but not related). With a rejuvenated lineup, Virna and Elisângela brought the gold to Brazil in a thrilling five set match. Later on that year, Virna had become the top scorer at the Grand Prix in Asia, more than Russia's Lyubov Chachkova-Sokolova and any of the Cubans. I saw her in two matches in Manila, one against Italy and the other against Korea. Though Italian Vania Beccaria tooled Virna's block from the back row a couple of times in a row during the nerve-wrecking second set, I couldn't see any major flaws in Virna's game. On the contrary, she was dictating the game as the rally went, and even veteran Ana Moser knew that Virna had become the team's pillar of confidence. Virna's outside approach was still very odd... she seemed to jump with her toes pointing inwards, and her arm swing showed very little wrist snap, but somehow, she could place balls extremely well in any direction. Though Brazil reached the final of the Grand Prix, they couldn't get past Russia and were swept 3-0 in a result that is getting all too familiar against the Russians. What happened to the Brazil that Russia beat 3-0 in the finals of the previous year's Grand Prix? Even Virna is struggling with that answer. In November of that year, Virna and her teammates had another chance at proving that they could beat Russia. The World Cup was played in Japan as it always is, and the two teams squared off in the round-robin that is used to determine the winner. This time, though, the loss to Russia went five sets, thanks to a combination of more youthful energy coming from rookie Erika Coimbra, and two maturing middle blockers as are Karin Negrão and Janina Conceição. Brazil got a meritable third place after Cuba and Russia, and with that, showed that it is clearly among the world's top four entering the Olympics in Sydney. As I am writing this article the Grand Prix 2000 is taking place and Virna has now become the "mother of the team". With Ana Moser retired and Léila's fame in Southeast Asia skyrocketed to that of a rock star, Virna has become the glue that keeps the team together. She keeps setter Fofão confident with her sets by achieving a very high kill percentage ratio, and she goes along teaching the new ones how to fine tune their game. Unfortunately, an injury has kept Virna on the sidelines for most of the Grand Prix, which has given outside hitter Raquel Silva a chance to shine. And shine she seems to be doing.  Virna as captain at the 2001 World Grand Champions Cup. Photo: FIVB The question
entering Sydney is whether or not Virna will be back in action to see
her on Olympic courts. Hopefully, she will return to her level in time
for another thrilling match against Cuba or Russia. But even if she
isn't, Virna will still play an important role in her team's well-being.
An interesting anecdote from the Grand Prix 2000 appeared on the
Brazilian newspaper O Globo (see below) explaining how in Taipei
the Brazilian team was so disgusted at the hotel's food, that Virna went
out to the city with a couple of translators, and did some massive
grocery shopping. Then, she TAUGHT the hotel chefs how to prepare good
Brazilian food (which even the hotel staff happened to enjoy) and thus,
she saved the team from starving to death during the first week of the
tournament. Things like these show that Virna really loves her life in
volleyball, whether playing it, or supporting her teammates, or reaching
out to foreign cultures and teaching them a thing or two about where she
comes from. She is a great ambassador, and if you've seen her in action
on the court, an extremely knowledged person on the ways of this sport.
Article by O Globo (original in Portuguese; translation follows) Virna: pé ruim na quadra, mão excelente na cozinha do hotel TAIPEI, Formosa. Principal atacante da seleção brasileira feminina de vôlei, Virna está praticamente fora das três próximas partidas da equipe no Grand Prix, por causa de uma inflamação no dedão do pé direito. Só que ainda assim está salvando a pele das companheiras nos momentos mais difíceis. Ontem, depois de mais um dia de sofrimento com a péssima comida servida pelos asiáticos, a jogadora invadiu a cozinha do hotel e preparou o jantar para as 19 pessoas da delegação, à base de peito de frango e macarrão. - Se não posso jogar, pelo menos serei útil na cozinha - afirmou a jogadora, que driblou com determinação a intransigência dos funcionários do hotel. Virna contou com a ajuda do preparador físico do time, José Inácio, que fez uma excursão por supermercados da cidade em busca de alimentos. Afinal, a comida do hotel, em especial o pão mofado, já estava quase provocando um motim entre as jogadoras. Duro mesmo foi a compra: a seleção precisa de duas intérpretes, pois ambas falam muito mal espanhol e inglês. A atacante acabou elogiada pelos cozinheiros do hotel e ainda os ensinou a receita do prato, obtendo em troca a promessa de que este será o cardápio do time pelos próximos dias. Quando se juntou às companheiras para o jantar, foi aplaudida pelas colegas. (my translation into English) Virna: a bad foot on the court, but an excellent hand in the hotel kitchen TAIPEI, Formosa. Brazil's main hitter, Virna, is practically out for the next three matches of the Grand Prix due to an inflammation on the big toe of her right foot. But even when she's hurt she's still saving her teammates in crucial moments. Yesterday, after more than a whole day of suffering from the horrible food served in the hotel, Virna invaded the hotel kitchen and prepared supper for the 19 people of the Brazilian delegation, based on chicken breast and noodles. "If I can't play, then at least I want to be useful in the kitchen," said the player, who had to put up with the un-cooperative attitude of the hotel staff. Virna had the help of the team's trainer, José Inácio, who went out to the city in search of a supermarket. The hotel food, especially the soggy bread, was about to cause a mutiny amongst the players. Shopping itself was very difficult: the team needs two translators, because neither one speaks English nor Spanish well enough. Virna ended up being praised by the hotel cooks and she even taught them the recipe for the dish, provided that they would prepare it as the team's meal for the next days. When the players got together to eat, Virna was received with applause by her teammates.
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