Plenty of tie-breakers in Tlaxcala as women’s quarterfinals take shape

There was plenty of excitement at the Tlaxcala Challenge on the 2026 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour on Friday as the first two knockout rounds of the women’s competition took place and the quarterfinal match-ups shaped up. As many as nine of the 16 sixteenthfinal and eighthfinal matches were pushed to tie-breaker resolutions.

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Deep into the tie-breaker overtime of a 2-1 (21-14, 15-21, 18-16) eighthfinal rollercoaster, 17^th-seeded Katerina Pavelkova & Anna Pavelkova celebrated an upset of second-seeded Germans Melanie Paul & Lea Kunst and advanced to the quarterfinals. Before that, the 20-year-old Czech twins hammered out a 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) sixteenthfinal shutout of Spain’s Ana Vergara & Sofia Gonzalez. Next, the Pavelkovas will take on Jasmine Fleming & Elizabeth Alchin in one of the quarterfinal fixtures on Saturday. With as many as 10 aces on their record, the 12^th-seeded Australians advanced with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-17) sweep of their eighthfinal against Chinese qualifiers Jiang Kaiyue & Dong Jie.

19^th-seeded Emi van Driel & Mila Konink of the Netherlands started their direct elimination phase with a three-setter, eliminating Japan’s Ren Matsumoto & Non Matsumoto, seeded ninth, in a 2-1 (21-15, 17-21, 15-7) sixteenthfinal. Then, the Dutch team took out seventh-seeded Americans Savannah Cory (Savvy) & Devon Newberry in straight sets, 2-0 (21-17, 21-16). In the quarterfinals, Van Driel & Konink will challenge another American duo, the pairing of 2023 world champion Sara Hughes with Allysa Batenhorst. The third-seeded US team managed a 2-1 (15-21, 21-19, 15-12) victory in the high-profile eighthfinal against fifth-seeded Verena Figueira & Thainara Feitosa of Brazil.

Lithuanian Olympians Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte also scored two wins on Friday on the way to the quarterfinals. The 13^th-seeded pair battled it out for a 2-1 (14-21, 21-19, 15-13) comeback against 15^th-seeded Anniina Parkkinen & Valma Prihti of Finland and followed up with a 2-0 (21-11, 21-16) shutout of Chinese qualifiers Kadeliye Halaiti & Zhou Mingli. Paulikiene & Raupelyte will now take on top-seeded Italians Claudia Scampoli & Giada Bianchi for a spot in the semifinals. The bracket leaders lost their first set of the tournament, but came up with a 2-1 (21-17, 14-21, 15-13) eighthfinal victory over 10^th-seeded Hailey Harward & Xolani Hodel of the United States.

The remaining quarterfinal match-up will feature an All-American clash between fourth-seeded Abby Van Winkle & Molly Phillips and 22^nd-seeded Geena Urango & Megan Rice. In the overtime of the tie-breaker, Van Winkle & Phillips completed a 2-1 (14-21, 21-18, 16-14) turnaround in their eighthfinal against sixth-seeded Yan Xu & Xia Xinyi of China. Meanwhile, Urango & Rice put a stop to Romanian qualifiers Francesca Alupei & Beata Vaida’s rise with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-10) shutout, with an impressive six aces from Urango.

Both the quarterfinals and the semifinals in the women’s competition will be played on Saturday. The competition day will serve off at 14:00 local time (20:00 UTC).

Beach Pro Tour Tlaxcala Challenge: schedule and results

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