Austria’s Magdalena Rabitsch & Anja Trailovic have shown warrior spirit in enduring and overcoming the toughest tests in the women’s competition of the 2023 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship in Roi-Et, Thailand.
Beach U21 World Champs 2023
Rabitsch & Trailovic live up to hype of ‘Team Tiebreak’
The Austrian duo advanced to the quarterfinals after winning their fifth tiebreak match in the U21 World Champs
Published 05:25, 11 Nov 2023
The European pair have played five tiebreakers so far, including two three-setters in the qualification round, two from pool play and their latest three-set exploit against undefeated Finland.
Both teams came from qualification to the main draw undefeated, with the Finnish pair winning all their matches, while Rabitsch & Traijlovic dropped one match against the Netherlands in group play.
In their Round of 16 encounter, the Austrians rallied from a set down to triumph 2-1 (18-21, 21-12, 15-13), eliminating and ending the winning streak of Finland duo Sara Sinisalo & Anniina Muukka.
“We deserve this win,” Trailovic said. “We kept on fighting until the end. I am so happy, and I can’t even describe the feeling right now.”
“We almost had all our games in tie-breaks, so we call ourselves ‘Team Tiebreak’,” exclaimed Rabitsch. “We kept believing and we kept fighting. We know our strengths and we know time will come and points will come – point for point. We are so happy.”
The two have been playing together since they were young but have been separated because Rabitsch had to study in the United States, while Trailovic stayed in Vienna. The two reunited in Roi-Et to compete in their last age-group competition together.
“We have played together in the last four years, but now we have separated because I play college beach volleyball in America. This is our last season and last year (in the age-group tournaments). And now it’s like a reunion, playing together again, which is really nice,” Rabitsch explained.
“I’m in Vienna, and it was hard for me because she’s my best friend and now she lives in the U.S. I’m happy to be reunited with her for this tournament,” Trailovic said.
The two are having a grand time in their first visit to Thailand as they have moved to the quarterfinals with a huge support from the Thai crowd, they are more motivated to win more matches.
“The people are so nice and so kind, we are incredibly happy to be here. It’s been a wonderful experience because the people don’t even know us and yet they cheer for us with all their heart. They are great people,” Trailovic said.
Their next opponents are Poland’s Ciezkowska/Lunio, and the question now is this: Will their quarterfinal match be another tiebreak thriller?
“I really hope it will be clearer for us in the next match, but I would be happy with a 2-1 win also,” Rabistch said.
“We will keep fighting no matter what. We will make Austria proud!”