The women`s round-of-12 lineup is now complete after a series of intense matches.
Lexy Denaburg in action at the Rio de Janeiro Elite.
American duo Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg once again caused a major upset at the Rio de Janeiro Elite event of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. Following their unexpected win against Brazil`s second-ranked team, Carol Solberg and Rebecca Cavalcanti, on Thursday, they secured the top spot in their pool by defeating Latvia`s third-ranked pair, Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, in a thrilling three-set match on Friday.
In the Pool B final, the 14th-seeded Donlin and Denaburg clinched a 2-1 (21-17, 11-21, 15-13) victory over the third-seeded Latvian pair. This win secured their direct qualification to Saturday`s round of 12, where they are slated to face French Olympians Clemence Vieira and Aline Chamereau.
Despite their earlier losses, both Tina & Anastasija and Carol & Rebecca successfully advanced to the round of 12. The Latvian team secured a decisive 2-0 (21-18, 21-16) win in their round-of-18 match against Paraguayan Olympians Giuliana Poletti Corrales and Michelle Valiente. They are now set to compete against USA`s Kelly Cheng and Molly Shaw, who were the Joao Pessoa Elite winners last week and surprisingly clinched Pool D by defeating the fourth-seeded Italians, Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth, 2-1 (21-9, 12-21, 15-8).
The Brazilian duo first overcame Katja Stam and Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands to secure third place in their pool. They then staged a comeback from a set down to achieve a hard-fought 2-1 (16-21, 21-14, 15-10) victory in the round-of-18 against American qualifiers Corinne Quiggle and Chloe Loreen. Their next challenge will be against USA`s Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft, silver medalists from Joao Pessoa, who also topped their Pool E after a 2-1 (15-21, 23-21, 18-16) upset win over the fifth-seeded German pair, Svenja Muller and Cinja Tillmann.
The world`s top-ranked team, Brazil`s Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes, maintained their dominance, sweeping Pool A with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) victory over Austria`s Dorina Klinger and Ronja Klinger. Their upcoming match will be against Muller & Tillmann, who bounced back by eliminating Brazilian qualifiers Andressa Cavalcanti and Taina Bigi in the round of 18.
Switzerland`s third-seeded Anouk Verge-Depre and Zoe Verge-Depre secured a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) win against Vieira & Chamereau in the Pool C final. They are now set to face Gottardi & Orsi Toth, who made a strong three-set comeback against Brazilian qualifiers Thainara Feitosa de Oliveira and Talita Simonetti.
Canadian sixth seeds Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson secured first place in Pool F with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) win over Quiggle & Loreen. They will next play against the Klinger sisters for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The round of 12 matches are scheduled to begin at 12:00 local time (15:00 UTC) on Saturday, with the quarterfinal round following later the same day.
Oliver Wrenwick