European duos to challenge high seeds in Veracruz Challenge semifinals

Top-seeded Americans Miles Evans & Chase Budinger will be challenged by Italy’s Samuele Cottafava & Gianluca Dal Corso in one of Sunday’s men’s semifinals of the Veracruz Challenge on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. In the other, third-seeded Brazilians George Wanderley & Saymon Barbosa will take on Switzerland’s Yves Haussener & Julian Friedli.

· Watch the Veracruz Challenge on VBTV

Saturday’s men’s competition program in Mexico featured the eighthfinal and the quarterfinal matches.

In one of the most interesting matches of the day, Evans & Budinger started off with a hard-fought 2-1 (21-19, 18-21, 15-13) win over 13^th-seeded Joaquin Bello & Javier Bello of England. The two Americans contributed 24 points each to the victory, with Budinger’s tally including five kill blocks. Javier Bello also matched them with 24 points under his belt. Evans & Budinger followed up with a 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) sweep of their quarterfinal match against 10^th-seeded Austrians Christoph Dressler & Philipp Waller. Budinger led the team with 12 points, including four blocks, while Evans added another 10 points. Dressler was the best scorer of the game with 13 points to his name.

In their eighthfinal, George & Saymon achieved a 2-0 (23-21, 21-16) win over Norwegian qualifiers Nils Gunnar Ringoen & Even Stray Aas, seeded 31^st in the 32-team main draw. Saymon impressed with nine kill blocks towards a 24-point match high, while George produced three aces to finish with eight points. In another tight straight-setter, the Brazilian duo took out ninth-seeded Americans Chaim Schalk & James Shaw by 2-0 (21-18, 21-19). Saymon topped the match charts with 22 points, while George chipped in with 13.

19^th-seeded Haussener & Friedli swept their eighthfinal to celebrate a 2-0 (21-15, 21-16) victory over 18^th-seeded Americans Robert Wyatt Harrison & Cody Caldwell. Friedli’s 21-point tally included five blocks and an ace. Haussener put away two aces to finish with 11 points. The Swiss went on to knock out Ruben Penninga & Matthew Immers in the only three-setter of the quarterfinals. They put together a 2-1 (21-17, 18-21, 15-11) victory over the 25^th-seeded Dutchmen, with Friedli on fire with four aces, three kill blocks and 17 kills in attack towards a match-high 24 points. Haussener also delivered three direct points from the serving line and signed off with a total of 15.

Cottafava & Dal Corso were the lowest seeded team to make it to the semifinals in Mexico. The 22^nd-seeded Italians started their day with a three-set eighthfinal victory over fifth-seeded Ukrainians Sergiy Popov & Eduard Reznik. They came back from a set down to celebrate a 2-1 (17-21, 21-17, 15-11) upset, with Dal Corso on top with 32 points, including five blocks. Cottafava added 13 points. The Italian duo followed up with a 2-0 (21-12, 21-19) shutout of 14^th-seeded Adrian Heidrich & Jonathan Jordan of Switzerland in the quarterfinals. Cottafava excelled with five aces towards a 16-point tally. Dal Corso was once again the best scorer of the match with 17 points, including two aces and two blocks.

The first semifinal on Sunday, between George & Saymon and Haussener & Friedli, will serve off at 10:00 local time (16:00 UTC). Evans & Budinger and Cottafava & Dal Corso will hit the sand an hour later. The bronze medal game is set to start at 14:00 (20:00), while the grand final for the Veracruz Challenge gold will get underway at 15:00 (21:00).

VW Beach Pro Tour Veracruz Challenge: schedule and results

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