USA’s Julia Donlin & Lexy Denaburg produced the first big upset of the women’s main draw at the Rio de Janeiro Elite on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. In a Pool B match, they outlasted the number two team in the FIVB World Ranking, Brazil’s Carol Solberg & Rebecca Cavalcanti, and secured a spot in the next phase of the tournament. So did another 11 teams as the first leg of pool play unfolded on Thursday with plenty of three-set battles pumping the adrenaline.

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14^th-seeded Donlin & Denaburg came back from a set down to win the next two deep into the overtime and emerge with a surprising 2-1 (17-21, 23-21, 20-18) victory over one of the home favorite duos Carol & Rebecca, seeded 11^th in this bracket. Donlin raised six kill blocks towards a match-high 36 points, while Denaburg put away three aces towards a 15-point tally. Carol led her team in battle with 31 points, including three aces and four blocks. In Friday’s duel for the first place in the pool and a direct ticket to the round of 12, the American pair will challenge the world’s number three team, second-seeded Latvians Tina Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova, who won by forfeit their opening game against Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon of the Netherlands, who withdrew because of an injury.

Another American pair upset another Brazilian pair in three sets in Pool F. 18^th-seeded qualifiers Corinne Quiggle & Chloe Loreen claimed a 2-1 (21-19, 16-21, 15-11) victory over experienced Talita Antunes & Taiana Lima, seeded seventh. Quiggle & Loreen will take on Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson, who put together a 2-0 (21-18, 21-13) win over Polish qualifiers Natalia Okla & Urszula Lunio. Taiana Lima & Talita will face Okla & Lunio for the third place in the pool and survival in the tournament.

In yet another American-Brazilian clash, last week’s Joao Pessoa Elite winners Kelly Cheng & Molly Shaw celebrated a 2-1 (21-12, 20-22, 15-13) success against Vitoria Rodrigues & Hegeile Almeida. The other match in the pool was also pushed to a tie-breaker resolution. Fourth-seeded Italians Valentina Gottardi & Reka Orsi Toth, who won the previous Elite event in Hamburg, battled it out for a 2-1 (19-21, 21-19, 15-7) comeback against Dutch qualifiers Wies Bekhuis & Emi van Driel.

In Pool A, Austrians Dorina Klinger & Ronja Klinger came back from a set down against Spanish Olympians Daniela Alvarez & Tania Moreno to celebrate a 2-1 (19-21, 22-20, 15-8) victory, while the world’s number one team, top-seeded Thamela Coradello & Victoria Lopes of Brazil mastered a 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) shutout of Paraguayan Olympians Giuliana Poletti Corrales & Michelle Valiente.

A three-set battle decided one of the finalists in Pool C as well. French Olympians Clemence Vieira & Aline Chamereau took a 2-1 (21-16, 15-21, 15-11) win over Italy’s Claudia Scampoli & Giada Bianchi, to challenge third-seeded Anouk Verge-Depre & Zoe Verge-Depre of Switzerland, who hammered out a 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) sweep of their opener against Brazilian qualifiers Andressa Cavalcanti & Taina Bigi.

Pool E was the only one, in which the job was done in straight sets in both matches. Fifth-seeded Germans Svenja Muller & Cinja Tillmann put together a 2-0 (21-16, 21-11) win over Brazilian qualifiers Thainara Feitosa de Oliveira & Talita Simonetti, while last week’s silver medalists Terese Cannon & Megan Kraft of the United States delivered a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) shutout of Czech qualifiers Marketa Svozilova & Marie-Sara Stochlova.

The classification matches in the pools will be played on Friday. Action resumes at 09:00 local time (12:00 UTC). The round of 18 will take place later in the day.

VW Beach Pro Tour Rio de Janeiro Elite: match schedule and results

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