A boisterous crowd inside the venue, which is known as the spiritual home of Brazilian volleyball, were in fine voice throughout, with the adrenaline still flowing from their Olympic football triumph over Germany at the Maracanã Stadium last night.

Thankfully for those who had turned out hopeful of seeing the host nation end the Games in golden style, their volleyball side didn't disappoint as they battled to a 25-22, 28-26, 26-24 victory against the Italians to end a run of two consecutive silver medals.

The win ensured Brazil capped of the event on a positive note and delivered the success that their volleyball-loving fans so desperately desired.

"Volleyball is our number one sport because football is a religion" is the popular saying in the South American nation and their team emerged with gold medals in both, with Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt winning the beach volleyball crown on the iconic Copacabana Beach earlier this week.

Led by prodigal son Neymar, the football team then clinched their first-ever Olympic title in the sport yesterday, with the Barcelona star fittingly scoring the match-winning penalty.

With Neymar watching in the stands, the pressure was on their volleyball players but they began well, trading blows with the Italians, who have won two Olympic silvers and three world titles, before breaking free to secure the opening set.

Italy, intent on drawing level, came back with renewed vigour in the second but the Brazilians harnessed the energy of the raucous home crowd to move to within one set of the title.

Again the European side weren't going down without a fight but they couldn't quite edge over the winning line and after a nervy wait as they edged towards glory, Brazil finally got their hands on a third Olympic men's volleyball gold, following on from their successes at Barcelona 1992 and Athens 2004.

Wallace de Souza, the tournament leading scorer with 147 points, led the charge for the hosts with a haul of 20, while Italian Ivan Zaytsev's 17 points proved in vain as they had to settle for silver.

"We deserved this medal so much - it's much more special to do it at home, it's a magical moment," Bruno Mossa Rezende said. 

"Everything we went through and now we are Olympic champions. 

"This generation was said to be chokers. 

"After so many silvers, now we're gold."

The bronze medal match also proved to be a dramatic affair as the United States fought back from two sets down to beat Russia 23-25, 21-25, 25-19, 25-19, 15-13.