Italy’s Valentina Gottardi & Claudia Scampoli decorated their first Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour appearance as a team with the Yucatan Challenge trophy in Puerto Progreso. After losing the first set they played in Mexico, the 11th-seeded Italians went on an impeccable quest for the gold and never dropped another set on the way to the top of the podium. It was the second gold and sixth overall medal on the Beach Pro Tour for 22-year-old Paris 2024 Olympian Gottardi, while 24-year-old Scampoli has already collected seven medals, six of which gold, but this was the first time she made the podium at a Challenge-level tournament.
Beach Pro Tour
Gottardi & Scampoli crown team’s debut with Yucatan gold
Huberli & Kernen settle for silver, Newberry & Whitmarsh claim bronze in Mexico
Published 08:48, 23 Mar 2025
- Watch the Yucatan Challenge on VBTV.
32-year-old two-time Olympian and Paris 2024 bronze medalist Tanja Huberli and her new 19-year-old partner Leona Kernen of Switzerland also made their Beach Pro Tour debut as a team in Yucatan and decorated it with silver. Huberli’s collection now features two gold, four silver and two bronze medals on the Tour, while Kernen’s only previous medal was also a silver from the 2023 Baden Futures. The ninth-seeded Swiss duo reached the Yucatan gold medal showdown undefeated in five consecutive matches before losing the final to Gottardi & Scampoli.
USA’s Devon Newberry & Jaden Whitmarsh completed the podium with bronze. This way, in three Beach Pro Tour appearances as a team, the 24-year-old Americans have already collected three medals. In December, they took bronze at the Pompano Beach Futures and, earlier this month, they topped the podium at the Mount Maunganui Futures. The event in Yucatan was the duo’s first Challenge tournament. They started from the qualifiers and were seeded 31st in the 32-team main draw. After winning seven of their nine matches in Puerto Progreso, Newberry & Whitmarsh earned the bronze medal.
Huberli & Kernen stormed Sunday’s final match on a 6-1 run, but Gottardi & Scampoli fought back to catch up at 13-13 and never looked back. They dominated on the court through the end of the match to celebrate a 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) victory. In the two sets of the game, Gottardi made an impressive contribution of five aces, five kill blocks and 11 spiking points to top the scorers’ chart with a total of 21 points. Scampoli scored 11. So did Kernen, while Huberli finished with 10. Each of the Swiss players put away two aces and a kill block.
“It was a tough match. The wind was not easy to manage, but we were able to stay together and help each other,” Gottardi told VBTV after the final. “Thank you to the fans who cheered for us! This week was fantastic!”
“I am speechless!” Scampoli added. “This is my first gold medal. I am very proud of our team, of this game, of everything…”
The all-American third-place match between Newberry & Whitmarsh and 12th-seeded Teegan Van Gunst & Kimberly Hildreth was resolved deep in the overtime of the tie-breaker. In the first set, Van Gunst & Hildreth came back from a four-point opponent lead to win it by a four-point margin. Newberry & Whitmarsh dominated the second set to level the match. The lead in the tie-breaker went back and forth a few times and the set was pushed way beyond the 15th point. After denying two opponent match points and failing to convert three of their own, Newberry & Whitmarsh finally closed it off at 2-1 (17-21, 21-15, 20-18). Newberry and Van Gunst shared the top scorer honors of the match with 23 points each.
