It did start there. And what is really amazing is to go to Copacabana beach and watch them playing WITH THEIR FEET!!! Yes, like soccer. They are not allowed to TOUCH the ball with their hands. It is amazing to watch. I was watching about 4 “nets” and three of them were doing the “soccer vollyball thing.”
No, volleyball itself started on the beach in Hawaii, and it continued for many decades before ever showing up in Brazil. Wiki’s history of the sport doesn’t even mention Brazil. Now, volleyball with feet is a Brazilian thing indeed . . .