Spanish Olympians Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno overcame a second-straight day of intense emotions at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Montréal Elite and ended the day on Thursday guaranteed in the tournament’s elimination rounds.

One day after surviving a pair of elimination matches to advance from the qualifier at the Parc Jean-Drapeau, the Spaniards earned their first two main draw victories in the event, both of them coming from behind to win in three, and confirmed their presence in the next phase of the tournament.

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Playing in Montréal for the second time in their careers, the 23-year-old Spanish ended Wednesday’s qualifier with a nice feeling after they won both their matches and erased the frustration of their first trip to the city, in 2023, which ended in elimination before the start of the main draw.

Their first Pool C matches in Montréal, on Thursday, had no shortage of excitement as, in both of them, Dani and Tania had to come back after dropping the first set. The Spanish first got on the court in the afternoon and took down the Swiss Vergé-Dépré sisters Anouk and Zoé, winning 2-1 (17-21, 21-16, 15-9).

A few hours later, Dani and Tania faced another pair of sisters, this one formed by Austrians Ronja and Dorina Klinger, and again prevailed in the tie-breaker (17-21, 21-13, 15-10). With two victories in as many matches, the Spanish are already guaranteed in the elimination rounds. On Friday, they will play Canadian wildcards Marie-Alex Bélanger and Lea Monkhouse and will earn a direct spot in the quarterfinals if they manage to get another win.

The Canadians need a victory to keep their hopes of making it to the next round alive after they dropped their first two matches in Montréal on Thursday, falling to the Klingers in straight sets (21-12, 21-14) and to the Vergé-Déprés in the tie-breaker (18-21, 21-17, 15-13).

Germans and Latvians dominate Pool B

Pool B also had two rounds completed on Thursday and is now set to have two ‘finals’ on Friday, with Germans Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann and Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova, who both won twice, meeting for first place and the direct spot in the quarterfinals, and Australians Taliqua Clancy and Jana Milutinovic and Americans Julia Donlin and Lexy Denaburg, who dropped their two matches, facing off for a place in the Round of 12.

Müller and Tillmann defeated Donlin/Denaburg 2-0 (21-19, 21-14) and Clancy/Milutinovic also in two sets (22-20, 21-17), while Tina and Anastasia swept (21-8, 21-13) the Australians and prevailed over the Americans also in straight sets (21-19, 21-15).

Canadian Olympic medalists Brandie Wilkerson and Melissa Humana-Paredes, who won gold in Montréal in 2023, started their campaign with a straight-set (21-12, 23-21) victory over Dutch Mila Konink and Raisa Schoon in Pool D. The other match in the pool had Germans Sandra Ittlinger and Anna-Lena Grüne upsetting Brazilian Olympians Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti with a two-set (21-11, 21-17) victory.

Brazilian teams got a head start in Pool A, with reigning Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos sweeping (21-17, 21-15) Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth and FIVB World Ranking leaders Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes beating Australians Elizabeth Alchin and Georgia Johnson also 2-0 (21-17, 22-20).

Beach Pro Tour Montréal Elite – Match Schedule & Results

Pool play will continue in Montréal on Friday, when the last 12 matches will be played. The four pool winners will advance directly to the quarterfinals, while teams ranked second and third will get to play in the Round of 12 – both rounds will be held on Saturday. The semifinals and medal matches in Canada are scheduled for Sunday.

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