Challenge - Tlaxcala, MEX - 2026

Pavelkova twins conquer Tlaxcala to celebrate first ever Challenge gold

Paulikiene & Raupelyte settle for silver, Hughes & Batenhorst earn bronze

Published 09:36, 22 Mar 2026

Katerina Pavelkova & Anna Pavelkova celebrate their Tlaxcala Challenge gold (source: Pie de foto)

20-year-old Czech twin sisters Katerina Pavelkova & Anna Pavelkova not only conquered their first ever Challenge-level medal on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour, but made it shine in gold as they won Sunday’s women’s final in Tlaxcala, Mexico. Previously, the rising Czech stars had a full set of medals in the Futures category.

Watch the Tlaxcala Challenge on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

Lithuanian Olympians Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte settled for silver, also the best achievement for the pair on the Beach Pro Tour so far, which they added to a collection of two bronze medals.

Sara Hughes & Allysa Batenhorst of the United States brought home Tlaxcala Challenge bronze, their second in a row, after the Bhubaneswar Challenge two weeks ago, out of a total three appearances on the Beach Pro Tour so far.

The 2026 Tlaxcala Challenge medalists (source: Pie de foto)

13^th-seeded Paulikiene & Raupelyte were in control for the most part of the first set to take the lead in Sunday’s gold medal showdown. 17^th-seeded Pavelkova & Pavelkova, however, managed to wipe out a three-point deficit in set two to level up. During the tie-breaker, the Czechs opened up an early three-point lead and kept it up until 9-6, when the Lithuanians turned things around to 11-9 their away. The Pavelkova twins, however, stormed to victory with an incredible sprint of six consecutive points. Anna brought in match point with a monster block and converted it to a 2-1 (17-21, 21-13, 15-11) win with a block-out swing. Katerina was the best scorer of the match with 25 points, all in attack. Anna raised a total of four kill blocks to finish with 18 points. 25-year-old Raupelyte also put up four stuffs towards a team-high 21 points, while 31-year-old Paulikiene scored the only ace of the final and signed off with 11 points in total.

In the all-American bronze medal match earlier on Sunday, third-seeded Sara Hughes & Allysa Batenhorst did their job against 22^nd-seeded compatriots Geena Urango & Megan Rice in straight sets, 2-0 (21-15, 21-18). 23-year-old Batenhorst put away four kill blocks and 20 spike kills to top the match chart with a 24-point total. Tlaxcala 2023 world champion and Paris 2024 Olympian, 31-year-old defender Hughes, contributed another five points. Urango and Rice scored 17 and 12 points, respectively.