Ukraine’s Maryna Hladun & Tetiana Lazarenko stunned top-seeded Brazilians Carol Solberg & Rebecca Cavalcanti in the Pool A final at the Yucatan Challenge on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour and became the lowest seeded team to advance directly to the women’s eighthfinals in Mexico, as main draw action got underway on Thursday in Puerto Progreso.
Beach Pro Tour
Hladun & Lazarenko shut out Carol & Rebecca to win pool in Yucatan
Women’s knockout bracket shapes up in Mexico
Published 07:42, 21 Mar 2025
Ukraine’s Maryna Hladun & Tetiana Lazarenko
- Watch the Yucatan Challenge on VBTV.
16th-seeded Hladun & Lazarenko hammered out an emphatic 2-0 (21-13, 21-15) shutout of the Brazilian favorites. The Ukrainians dominated in attack, with nine successful spikes from Lazarenko and another seven from Hladun, but prevailed mostly from the serving line with six aces from Hladun and four from Lazarenko, against none for Carol & Rebecca. Before that, in their opening Pool A matches, the Ukrainian duo achieved a 2-0 (22-20, 21-14) victory over Italy’s Reka Orsi Toth & Giada Bianchi with the help of another seven aces (six from Lazarenko), while the top-seeded Brazilians put together a 2-0 (21-16, 21-16) sweep of their game against Mexico’s Yeray Yamilet Vidaurrazaga & Maria Jimena Ramirez. As pool winners, Hladun & Lazarenko booked a direct ticket to the eighthfinals, while pool runners-up Carol & Rebecca and Orsi Toth & Bianchi, who finished in third place after a hard-fought three-setter against the home team, advanced to Friday’s sixteenthfinals.
Second-seeded Spaniards Daniela Alvarez & Tania Moreno lived up to their status and topped Pool B. In the pool winners’ match, the Paris 2024 Olympians mastered a 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) shutout of Australia’s Taliqua Clancy & Jana Milutinovic. The third place in the pool went to American qualifiers Devon Newberry & Jaden Whitmarsh, who upset Finland’s Taru Lahti-Liukkonen & Niina Ahtiainen in straight sets in the pool losers’ game.
Third-seeded Dorina Klinger & Ronja Klinger of Austria topped the final Pool C standings, but not before battling their way through two tough three-setters, coming back from a set down in each of them. First, they produced a 2-1 (15-21, 23-21, 15-13) win over German qualifiers Louisa Lippmann & Linda Bock. Then, they achieved a 2-1 (12-21, 21-16, 15-11) win over Paraguayan Olympians Giuliana Poletti & Michelle Valiente. French Olympians Lezana Placette & Alexia Richard also progressed to the knockout rounds after knocking out Lippmann & Bock in straight sets.
Pool D was marked by four straight-set matches. In the final, 13th-seeded Julia Scoles & Lexy Denaburg of the United States delivered a 2-0 (21-18, 21-17) upset of fourth-seeded Wang Jingzhe & Xia Xinyi of China. Another American, pair, Madelyne Anderson & Brook Bauer, also advanced from this pool after eliminating German qualifiers Melanie Paul & Lea Kunst in the third place match.
In the company of three US pairs, fifth-seeded Lithuanian Olympians Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte finished Pool E runners-up. The direct ticket to the eighthfinals went to 12th-seeded Kimberly Hildreth & Teegan Van Gunst, who celebrated a 2-0 (21-16, 21-18) sweep of the pool final against the Europeans. Qualifiers Madison Shields & Xolani Hodel beat compatriots Corinne Quiggle & Chloe Loreen for the third place in the pool.
Another American team, sixth-seeded Toni Rodriguez & Kylie Kuyava-De Berg, reached the Pool F final, but there they suffered a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) shutout at the hands of 11th-seeded Italians Valentina Gottardi & Claudia Scampoli. Czechia’s Marketa Svozilova & Marie-Sara Stochlova, on the other hand, shut out USA’s Savannah Simo & Abby Van Winkle for the third place.
Seventh-seeded Andressa Cavalcanti & Taina Bigi of Brazil achieved a 2-1 (16-21, 21-16, 15-10) turnaround in the Pool G final against Clemence Vieira & Aline Chamereau. Before that, the French Olympians, who arrived from Wednesday’s qualifications, upset 10th-seeded Brazilians Vitoria Rodrigues & Hegeile Almeida in another three-setter, 2-1 (21-14, 17-21, 15-7). In yet another tie-breaker match, Vitoria & Hegeile earned their spot in the elimination rounds with a win over American qualifiers Hailey Harward & Molly Phillips.
Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalist Tanja Huberli of Switzerland and her new teammate Leona Kernen survived two tie-breakers to top the standings in Pool H and jump to the eighthfinals. First, the ninth-seeded Swiss team came back from a set down to beat the Spanish pairing of another Paris Olympian, Paula Soria, with Belen Carro of Spain by 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-12). Then, Huberli & Kernen squeezed out a tight 2-1 (21-17, 15-21, 17-15) victory over home favorites Susana Torres & Atenas Gutierrez of Mexico. To make the sixteenthfinals, qualifiers Carro & Paula shut out fellow qualifiers Yan Xu & Zhou Mingli of China.
The sixteenthfinal round will get underway at 14:00 local time (20:00 UTC) on Friday. The eighthfinals are scheduled for later in the day.
