The second day of the main draw of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Uberlandia, Brazil, determined the eight quarterfinalists of the tournament that’s taking place at Praia Clube. And among them are Americans Terese Cannon and Sarah Sponcil.

The two USA players, who are fresh from winning silver at last week’s Elite16 event in Cape Town, will face Brazilians Barbara Seixas and Carol Sagaldo on Saturday. The other three quarterfinals will feature Brazil's Eduarda 'Duda' Lisboa/Ana Patricia Ramos against Japan's Miki Ishii/Sayaka Mizoe, Brazil's Taiana Lima/Hegeile 'Hege' Santos playing Finland's Taru Lahti-Liukkonen/Niina Ahtiainen and the all-Brazilian duel reuniting Andressa Cavalcanti/Vitoria Rodrigues and Maria Elisa Antonelli/Fernanda Berti.

The semifinals will also be played on Saturday while the medal matches will conclude the tournament on Sunday.

· Watch all matches at the Beach Pro Tour Elite16 event in Uberlandia live on Volleyball TV.

Cannon and Sponcil’s campaign in Uberlandia has had ups and downs so far as the Americans debuted with a three-set win over Brazil’s Taina Bigi/Victoria Lopes on Thursday, but fell to Taiana and Hege just a few hours later.

With that, they entered the second day of pool play under pressure, but delivered, defeating Japan’s Asami Shina and Takemi ‘Take’ Nishibori in straight sets (21-17, 21-17). They benefitted from a victory of Taiana and Hege in the all-Brazilian duel to advance as the second best team in Pool D.

Despite the inconsistency, the Americans are confident they’re finding their rhythm ahead of the start of the elimination rounds.

“Cape Town was really fun,” Cannon commented. “It was our first final together as a pair and we were excited about the quick turnaround and the opportunity to compete right away. We had some gnarly traveling to get here, but the facility is amazing and we’re just really happy to be here. I feel like we’re hitting our stride and finding our groove with each game, so we’re really excited for the elimination round. We’re looking forward to ending the season strong.”

Uberlandia Elite16 - Match Schedule and Results

The all-Brazilian Pool A saw reigning world champions Duda and Ana Patricia take first place and a surprising second-place duo with veterans Maria Elisa and Fernanda topping Cape Town gold medallists Talita Antunes and Thamela Coradello in two sets (21-18, 24-22) to advance.

Pool B was won by Barbara and Carol, who triumphed in their three matches in Uberlandia so far. The second spot in the quarterfinals was decided in a head-to-head matchup, with Lahti and Athiainen topping Americans Emily Stockman and Megan Kraft in a nail-biting, three-set (21-16, 14-21, 15-13) match to move forward.

Pool C was the last to determine its top teams, with Andressa and Vitoria finishing pool play undefeated and Ishii and Mizoe taking the second spot with their straight-set (21-9, 21-14) win over Chileans Francisca Rivas and Chris Vorpahl.

Quick links:
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Uberlandia Elite16
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