Challenge - Nayarit, MEX - 2026

Cottafava & Dal Corso celebrate duo’s first Challenge gold

Luini & Immers and Elazar & Cuzmiciov complete Nayarit men’s podium

Published 10:38, 29 Mar 2026

Cottafava & Dal Corso celebrating in Nayarit (source: INCUFID-Nayarit)

Top-seeded Samuele Cottafava & Gianluca Dal Corso lived up to their status and triumphed as Nayarit Challenge winners at the 2026 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour event in Mexico. The Nayarit gold was the team’s first at the Challenge level. Previously, they had one silver at the Futures level.

Watch the Nayarit Challenge on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

Netherlands’ Leon Luini & Matthew Immers settled for silver. For them, it was also the first Beach Pro Tour medal as a pair. They had a bronze-medal finish back in 2020 at an FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour stop.

Israel’s Eylon Elazar & Kevin Cuzmiciov earned their second Challenge-level bronze just three weeks after winning the first one in Bhubaneswar. They have also collected two gold and three silver medals at Futures tournaments.

The 2026 Nayarit Challenge medalists (source: INCUFID-Nayarit)

Samuele Cottafava & Gianluca Dal Corso delivered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-17) sweep of Sunday’s gold medal showdown in Nayarit. The Italians opened a wide lead in the first set and although the sixth-seeded Dutchmen denied six consecutive set points, the bracket leaders took the lead in the match. The second set was more even and the lead changed hands a few times. Cottafava & Dal Corso stayed more focused in the money time and closed the match in straight sets on a serving error by the opponents for the winning point. 27-year-old Olympian Cottafava led the way with four aces and 14 spike kills. 25-year-old Dal Corso added five kill blocks and nine successful swings. 25-year-old Olympian Immers scored 15 points, all in attack, while 25-year-old Luini finished with two stuffs and nine points in offense.

Seventh-seeded Elazar & Cuzmiciov prevailed over second-seeded Argentineans Tomas Capogrosso & Nicolas Capogrosso in the third-place match and secured the bronze with a 2-0 (21-15, 21-15) sweep. 25-year-old Elazar shined in net defense with as many as eight kill blocks towards a match-high 22 points. 22-year-old Cuzmiciov aced twice and finished with a total of 10 points. Nicolas led the Capogrosso brothers with 11 points, including three blocks. Tomas added two stuffs, one ace and five successful swings.

A three-set battle unfolded in the semifinal between Cottafava & Dal Corso and Elazar & Cuzmiciov. The Italians had to find their way back from a set down before celebrating a 2-1 (16-21, 21-14, 20-18) victory. Dal Corso raised an insurmountable wall at the net, which brought him an out-of-this-world 12 kill blocks towards a team-high 21 points. Cottafava chipped in with two aces towards a 17-point tally. Elazar was the best scorer of the match with 24 points, including six blocks and an ace.

Before that, Luini & Immers got their semifinal job done in just two, but very hard-fought sets for a 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) win over the Capogrossos. Immers led the way with 18 points, all in swings. Luini put up five kill blocks and finished with a total of 14 points. Nicolas Capogrosso led the Argentinean side with 16 points.