Beach U21 World Championships 2025

USA against Hungary and USA against Brazil in U21 women’s semifinals

Three of the four semifinalists started their quest from the qualifiers

Published 04:42, 19 Oct 2025

Sorra/Odigie (CAN) vs. Henson/Wood (USA) - Quarterfinals #68306254

USA’s Zoey Henson spikes past the block of Canada’s Ruby Sorra

USA’s Zoey Henson & Sarah Wood will take on Hungarian qualifiers Chiara Honti-Majoros & Stefania Kun in one of Sunday’s women’s semifinals at the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships in Puebla. In the other, Brazilian qualifiers Marcela Barbosa & Maria Clara will cross swords with American qualifiers Sally Perez & Avery Jackson.

Watch the 2025 FIVB U21 Beach Volleyball World Championships on the Beach Volleyball World YouTube channel

Americans Henson & Wood were the first team to book a semifinal spot. In one of Saturday evening’s quarterfinals, they put together a speedy 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) victory over Canada’s Ruby Sorra & Ofure Odigie on center court. Earlier in the day, the US pair produced another straight-setter in their eighthfinal against Germany’s Mareet Maidhof & Sophia Neuss, 2-0 (21-16, 26-24). This way, Henson & Wood extended their winning streak in Mexico to five matches, having lost only one set along the way, in their pool opener against Brazil’s Marcela & Maria Clara, who also made it to the semifinals.

“We both just really battled. We wanted it so bad! We just stack together. Even though we went through some adversity, we kept calm, worked together and trusted our game,” Wood told FIVB.com after the quarterfinal win.

“We are really excited to get out there tomorrow and just take advantage of this opportunity. I think our game is really physical, so we just stick to that and stay together the whole time and that should be enough for us,” Henson added.

The Americans’ semifinal opponents emerged just seconds later on court 2. Hungary’s Honti-Majoros & Kun closed their tough quarterfinal against Austria’s Lia Berger & Lilli Hohenauer in straight sets, registering a 2-0 (24-22, 21-17) win and extending their victory run in Puebla to six consecutive games. In their eighthfinal match earlier on Saturday, the Hungarians came back from a set down against Sofia Izuzquiza & Adriana Serrano of Spain to mount a nail-biting 2-1 (15-21, 22-20, 18-16) turnaround.

Honti-Majoros/Kun (HUN) vs. Berger/Hohenauer L. (AUT) - Quarterfinals #68305711

Hungary’s Stefania Kun in quarterfinal action

A dramatic all-Brazilian quarterfinal propelled qualifiers Marcela & Maria Clara to the semifinals. They outlasted their compatriots Carolina Sallaberry & Julhia Perandre in the tie-breaker to celebrate a 2-1 (21-19, 8-21, 15-11) victory. It was the end of a long day for Marcela & Maria Clara. They started their elimination rounds from the morning’s sixteenthfinals where they achieved a 2-0 (21-19, 23-21) win over France’s Saofe Duval & Romane Sobezalz. The young Brazilians went on to claim another hard-fought 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) victory in their eighthfinal against Czechia’s Katerina Pavelkova & Anna Pavelkova.

Pavelková K./Pavelková A. (CZE) vs. Marcela/Maria Clara (BRA) - Round of 16 #68273160

Brazil’s Marcela Barbosa & Maria Clara celebrate during their eighthfinal match

In the last women’s quarterfinal in Puebla, USA’s Perez & Jackson found a way to wipe out solid opponent leads in both the second and the third sets to celebrate a 2-1 (18-21, 23-21, 15-12) victory over Latvia’s Liva Ebere & Deniela Konstantinova. It was their seventh win in a row since the start of the tournament in Puebla. In the eighthfinal round earlier on Saturday, the American duo put together a 2-0 (21-17, 21-10) shutout of Mexico’s Naomi Cruz & Angelica Torres.