One of just two teams coming from the Round of 24 to make it to the quarterfinals of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge event held in Alanya on Friday, Czechs Marketa Svozilova and Marie-Sára Štochlová had a productive day in the Turkish event.

With teams from seven different countries competing in the quarterfinals on Saturday, the tournament held at the Beach Sports Center facility is set to enter its final portion over the weekend – the semifinals will take place later on Saturday, with the medal matches scheduled for Sunday.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Alanya Challenge live on VBTV

The Czechs joined forces at the start of the 2025 season, a few months after Štochlová represented the country at the Paris Olympics, and have been consistently successful at the Challenge level, having finished ninth in Yucatán in March and fifth in Xiamen last month.

After advancing to the elimination rounds in third place in Pool F, Svozilova and Štochlová had strong performances in Alanya on Friday, winning a pair of matches to get to the quarterfinals and get just another victory away from their first semifinal appearance as partners at this level – they were second in their home Futures event in Prague earlier this month.

The Europeans first got on the court at the start of the afternoon, when they upset Americans Kimberly Hildreth and Keegan Van Gunst with a two-set (21-19, 21-16) victory in the Round of 24. A few hours later, they eliminated Dutch temporary partners Raisa Schoon and Mila Konink with another sweep (21-15, 21-14).

Their opponents in the quarterfinals, second-seeded Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth continued their perfect campaign in Türkiye with their third sweep in as many matches, taking down Ukrainians Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil 2-0 (21-12, 22-20).

Young Polish move forward

Another team that went from the Round of 24 to the quarterfinals on Friday, Polish Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio are one win away from making their second semifinal appearance in a Beach Pro Tour Challenge event – they were fourth in Nuvali last year. The 2023 U20 European champions secured a pair of big wins in the second day of the main draw in Türkiye, beating Dutch Noa Sonneville and Brecht Piersma 2-0 (23-21, 21-17) and Americans Deahna Kraft and Xolani Hodel in the tie-breaker (17-21, 24-22, 15-11).

In the quarterfinals, they will play against Italians Claudia Scampoli and Giada Bianchi, who knocked Dutch Lisa Luini and Desy Poiesz out with a three-set (15-21, 22-20, 15-13) victory in the Round of 16.

The Swiss Olympian Vergé-Dépré sisters Anouk and Zoé also made it through after they downed New Zealanders Shauna Polley and Olivia MacDonald in two sets (21-12, 21-19). They will face Ukrainian qualifiers Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk, who upset Americans Hailey Harward and Molly Phillips, winning their Round of 16 duel in the tie-breaker (20-22, 21-13, 15-11).

Beach Pro Tour Alanya Challenge – Match Schedule & Results

The fourth and last quarterfinal duel in Alanya will have French Olympians Clémence Vieira and Aline Chamereau, who advanced with a two-set (21-15, 21-17) victory over Americans Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle, and Brazilians Vitória Rodrigues and Hegeile ‘Hege’ Almeida, who took Japanese Asami Shiba and Reika Murakamid down in straight sets (21-16, 21-17).

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