A new team in the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour season, Australians Taliqua Clancy and Jana Milutinovic are two steps away from winning their first medals together as they continued to advance in this week’s Challenge event held in Warmia Mazury on Friday.

The only women’s team that played on Wednesday’s qualifier at Anders Hotel Beach to enter the weekend alive, the Australians are among the eight duos that will play in the quarterfinals in Poland on Saturday.

• Watch the Beach Pro Tour Warmia Mazury Challenge live on VBTV

The 33-year-old Clancy, a three-time Olympian and a Tokyo silver medalist, and the 23-year-old Milutinovic joined forces ahead of the start of the 2025 season after Taliqua’s longtime partner Mariafe Artacho took a career break to start a family.

This week’s Challenge event in Warmia Mazury is the sixth in which the Australians are sharing the same side of the court and is already their most successful as, with a pair of victories on Friday, the two have earned a spot in the quarterfinals for the first time – their best result was a ninth in the season-opening Yucatán Challenge, in March.

Clancy and Milutinovic get to Saturday’s quarterfinals with five matches played in Poland and four victories earned. The last two happened on Friday, in the elimination rounds, and had a lot of drama, as they came back twice to beat Czechs Márie-Sara Štochlová and Marketa Svozilova 2-1 (14-21, 21-15, 15-9) in the Round of 24 and did it again in the Round of 16, against Dutch Wies Bekhuis and Emi van Driel, triumphing 2-1 (14-21, 21-18, 15-12).

In the quarterfinals, the Australians will play Americans Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg, who, like them, had to play twice on Friday, overcoming Japanese Reika Murakami and Asami Shiba in straight sets (21-14, 21-17) in the Round of 24 and prevailing over Germans Lea Kunst and Melanie Paul in the tie-breaker (21-17, 19-21, 15-9) in the Round of 16.

Germans eliminate compatriots

Another new team in 2025, Germans Louisa Lippmann, a Paris Olympian, and Linda Bock, also got a pair of victories on their way to the quarterfinals in Warmia Mazury. The Europeans topped Australians Elizabeth Alchin and Georgia Johnson in the tie-breaker (17-21, 21-11, 16-14) in the Round of 24 and then swept (21-17, 21-18) compatriots Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne in the Round of 16.

Their next opponents, Spanish Olympians Tania Moreno and Daniela Álvarez, got on the court just once on Friday and took care of business against Dutch Raisa Schoon and Mila Konink, prevailing in three sets (18-21, 21-10, 15-10) in the Round of 16.

French Olympians Clémence Vieira and Aline Chamereau also needed a pair of victories on Friday to get to the quarterfinals in Poland. The two started the day sweeping (21-12, 21-11) the Czech Pavelková twins Anna and Katerina in the Round of 24 and ended it with another two-set (21-19, 21-15) victory in the Round of 16, this one against Americans Savvy Simo and Abby Van Winkle.

The French are now set to play the home team of Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio, which continues undefeated after taking Finnish Niina Ahtiainen and Taru Lahti down in the Round of 16 with a two-set (21-19, 21-18) victory.

The fourth and last quarterfinal duel in Warmia Mazury will reunite two teams that played once on Friday – Ukrainians Maryna Hladun and Tetiana Lazarenko, who eliminated compatriots Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil with a two-set (22-20, 21-18) victory in the Round of 16, and Americans Kimberly Hildreth and Teegan Van Gunst, who moved forward after they handled French Olympians Lézana Placette and Alexia Richard in two sets (21-18, 21-11).

Beach Pro Tour Warmia Mazury Challenge – Match Schedule & Results

On Saturday, besides the quarterfinals, the semifinals will also be played in Poland. The medal matches are scheduled for Sunday.

Quick links:
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
VBTV
Beach Volleyball World Facebook
Beach Volleyball World X
Beach Volleyball World Instagram
Beach Volleyball World YouTube
Subscribe to Volleyball World's Newsletter