A new team in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour's inaugural season, Sandra Ittlinger and Isabel Schneider are set to experience the most important day of their recent partnership on Sunday, when the Germans will compete for their first medals as teammates at the Challenge event that’s taking place in Kuşadası, Turkey.

Playing in just their third international tournament in the 2022 season, the 27-year-old Ittlinger and the 30-year-old Schneider are one of the four women’s teams that will compete in the semifinals of the fourth Challenge tournament of the Beach Pro Tour, which is taking place at the Sevgi Plaji.

The semifinals will take place at 14.00 and 15.00 local time / 11.00 and 12.00 GMT, with the medal matches following at 18.30 (bronze) and 19.30 (gold) local time / 15.30 and 16.30 GMT.

· Watch all the matches of the Kuşadası Challenge live or on demand on Volleyball TV.

Still undefeated in Kuşadası, Ittlinger and Schneider were pushed to their limits on Saturday, but found ways to win both of their matches and continue on their way to their first semifinal appearance as partners. In the Round of 16, the two were pushed to three sets for the first time in the tournament by compatriots Chantal Laboureur and Sarah Schulz, but recovered from a slow start to win 2-1 (10-21, 21-14, 15-9).

In the quarterfinals, the Germans secured their third straight-set victory in four matches, but did so by the slimmest of the margins, downing Czechs Barbora Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova 2-0 (22-20, 21-19).

“I’m really excited to be playing with Isa this season,” Ittlinger told Volleyball World. “It’s my first semifinal in an international tournament and I couldn’t be any happier. We won all our matches so far and I feel like we’re playing great volleyball this week, so I’m really excited for tomorrow.”

Kuşadası Challenge - schedule and results

The next opponents of the Germans in Kuşadası will be Tokyo Olympic silver medallists Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho. The Australians, who were fourth at the Doha Challenge, topped Germans Karla Borger and Julia Sude 2-0 (21-19, 21-11) in the quarterfinals and will have another opportunity to win their first medal in the season.

The second semifinal will also feature a team that made it to the last day of a Beach Pro Tour event for the first time in Americans Sarah Sponcil and Terese Cannon, who also became partners in 2022. The two booked their spots in the medal rounds with a straight-set (21-15, 21-16) victory over compatriots and qualifiers Emily Stockman and Megan Kraft.

The winners of the Coolangatta Futures, their compatriots Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss will be their semifinal opponents. The 25-year-old Kloth and the 24-year-old Nuss are in the semifinals of a Challenge event for the first time after they defeated Germans Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller in straight sets (21-16, 21-14) in the quarterfinals. The American duos have met twice this season and have split victories in those encounters.

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