Dutch Olympians Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam staged their second comeback in two days to advance to the quarterfinals of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Tlaxcala, Mexico, on Friday.

The 20-year-old Schoon and the 23-year-old Stam form one of three European teams progressing to the quarterfinals of the tournament played at the Plaza de la Constitucion, joining four teams from Brazil and one from the United States.

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The reigning European vice-champions were on the court just once on Friday, after winning a pair of matches on Thursday, including a three-setter, to top Pool E. Schoon and Stam started behind, but found the energy to fight back and defeat German qualifiers Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller in three sets (16-21, 21-17, 15-11) in their Round of 16 matchup.

“It hasn’t been easy to play here because of the altitude, so we’re very proud of our performances,” Schoon commented. “I believe we played well yesterday and today and got to play our own game. We improved during the matches and I’m proud of it.”

“Another good thing is that we never lost faith,” Stam added. “We lost the first set yesterday and today, but we always had the trust we’d win the match in the end. Remaining calm and focused on doing our best was what helped us win both these matches.”

In Saturday’s quarterfinals, the Dutch will face reigning Olympic champion April Ross of the United States and her new partner Emily Day. The Americans advanced with a straight-set victory (22-20, 21-18) over Germans Chantal Laboureur and Sarah Schulz.

The other quarterfinal matchup in the upper side of the bracket will reunite two teams that eliminated American duos from contention, Brazilians Elize Maia and Thamela Coradello, who dominated Sara Hughes and Kelley Kolisnke in a two-set (21-19, 22-20) win, and Spanish Belen Carro and Angela Lobato, who came out on top in a thriller (21-18, 19-21, 19-17) against Corinne Quiggle and Sarah Schermerhorn.

Tlaxcala match schedule and results

Brazilian teams occupy three of the four quarterfinal spots on the other side of the bracket, and the country is already guaranteed to have a team in the semifinals. It could be either veterans Barbara Seixas and Carol Salgado, who topped compatriots Taina Bigi and Victoria Lopes 2-1 (20-22, 21-17, 15-7) in the Round of 16, or Andressa Cavalcanti and Vitoria Rodrigues, who eliminated Americans Lauren Fendrick and Emily Stockman with a straight-set (29-27, 21-18) victory.

“We’re just starting our international careers and matches like this are really important because they allow us to show our game,” Andressa said. “This is the first step towards the goals we have for this season and it’s great to be winning these battles, especially the ones against experienced teams like this one. I think we showed great maturity and intelligence to turn the game around on some occasions and that just makes us stronger.”

Taiana Lima and Hegeile ‘Hege’ Santos are the other Brazilian team to remain in the tournament after they knocked Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland out in the Round of 16 with a three-set (21-17, 19-21, 16-14) win. Their next opponents will be Anouk’s younger sister Zoe and her partner Esmee Bobner, who prevailed over the winners of last year’s FIVB World Tour Finals, German Olympians Julia Sude and Karla Borger, also in three sets (21-19, 19-21, 15-11).

Saturday’s schedule in Tlaxcala will feature the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds for the women. The medal matches will be played on Sunday, the final day of the event in Mexico.

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