Brazil is a powerhouse when it comes to volleyball and the women’s national team has twice won Olympic gold, in 2008 and 2012.

“Just like any other player, I’d like to go to the Olympics,” Ms. Abreu said in a postgame interview after greeting fans. “But I know it’s not going to happen just because I’m getting all this attention. I’ve got to do my best as a player.”

Ms. Abreu says she is trying to limit her media exposure after her success gave rise to widespread debate about whether male-to-female transitions give athletes an unfair advantage — an argument that has been going on at least since Renée Richards, a transgender woman professional tennis player, competed in the U.S. Open in 1977.

After joining the women’s professional league last year, Ms. Abreu’s performance on the court quickly caught the nation’s attention. In less than a month, she was scoring the highest number of points a game on average. And in January, she beat the record set by one of Brazil’s Olympic stars, Tandara Caixeta, for total points scored in a single game: 39 (a record Ms. Caixeta has since matched).

Ms. Caixeta has helped fuel the debate about any edge transgender athletes may have.

“I really respect her and her history,” Ms. Caixeta said in an interview given to sports journalists after her record was broken. “But I don’t agree with her participating in the feminine Superliga. It’s a very delicate issue and it’s not homophobia. It’s physiological.”

Ms. Abreu began playing volleyball at the age of 17 and eventually made it to the men’s professional leagues in Europe. Toward the end of her time there, she adopted the name Tifanny.