Challenge - Veracruz, Mexico - 2025

Qualifiers Stam & Schoon reach Veracruz final against top-seeded Quiggle & Loreen

Another two teams from the qualifications – Gonzalez & Navas and Polley & MacDonald – to battle for bronze

Published 05:58, 05 Oct 2025

Raisa Schoon in action at the Veracruz Challenge (source: Gobierno del Estado de Veracruz)

Dutch stars Katja Stam & Raisa Schoon showed they are back in great shape and reached Sunday’s women’s final at the Veracruz Challenge on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. Shortly after Stam’s recent return from a long injury-prompted absence, they made it from the qualifications all the way to the gold medal match in Mexico to face top-seeded Americans Corinne Quiggle & Chloe Loreen for the trophy. Another two teams emerging from the qualifiers – Puerto Rico’s Allanis Navas & Maria Gonzalez and New Zealand’s Shaunna Polley & Olivia MacDonald – will lock horns for the bronze.

· Watch the Veracruz Challenge on VBTV

Saturday’s women’s program in Veracruz offered the quarterfinal and the semifinal rounds of the competition.

Dutch Olympians Stam & Schoon, seeded 26^th in the 32-team main draw, started off with a tough 2-0 (29-27, 21-12) quarterfinal win over third-seeded Marketa Svozilova & Marie-Sara Stochlova of Czechia. Stam led the way with 25 points, including three kill blocks and an ace. Schoon added another 11, all in swings. In the semifinals, Stam & Schoon mastered a 2-0 (21-17, 21-13) shutout of 24^th-seeded Polley & MacDonald, with Stam’s match-high 19 points including five blocks and two aces, while Schoon chipped in with nine points.

The Kiwis reached the semifinals with a 2-1 (15-21, 21-18, 15-13) comeback victory over 14^th-seeded Hailey Harward & Molly Phillips of the United States. MacDonald topped the match charts with 27 points, while Polley finished with 16. They put away three aces each.

Quiggle & Loreen hammered out a 2-0 (21-15, 21-14) sweep of the all-American quarterfinal match against 21^st-seeded Kylie Kuyava-De Berg & Xolani Hodel. Loreen produced a match-high 22 points, including two aces and a block. Quiggle spiked another 10 points. The bracket leaders went on to master a 2-0 (21-15, 21-11) shutout of Gonzalez & Navas in the semis. Loreen raised two kill blocks and added an ace to emerge as the best scorer of the match again with a total of 16 points, while Quiggle added 13, all in swings.

Loreen/Quiggle vs. DeBerg/Hodel - Beach Volleyball - Women - Match Highlights, 04/10/2025

In their first appearance on the 2025 Beach Pro Tour, the 28^th-seeded Puerto Rican duo made it all the way to the medal matches. In Saturday’s quarterfinals, they came back from a set down against Czechia’s Katerina Pavelkova & Anna Pavelkova, seeded 18^th, to celebrate a 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 15-12) victory. Gonzalez led the team with 17 points, including two blocks. Navas contributed another 14, including three aces. Katerina Pavelkova emerged as the best scorer of the match with 24 points.

Gonzalez/Navas vs. Pavelková K./Pavelková A. - Match Highlights, 10/04/2025

The third-place game on Sunday will start at 12:00 local time (18:00 UTC), followed by the final showdown at 13:00 (19:00).