Elite16 - Brasilia, Brazil - 2025

Carol & Rebecca against Nuss & Brasher for Brasilia Elite gold

Dutch qualifiers Van Driel & Bekhuis make the bronze medal match against the Olympic champions

Published 05:07, 20 Apr 2025

Carol/Rebecca (BRA) vs. Ana Patrícia/Duda (BRA) - Semifinals #41855904

Carol & Rebecca in semifinal action

Mighty Carol Solberg & Rebecca Cavalcanti will represent the host nation Brazil in Sunday’s women’s final at the Brasilia Elite on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour against American heavyweights Kristen Nuss & Taryn Brasher. The big game in the Brazilian capital starts at 13:00 local time (16:00 UTC). Dutch qualifiers Emi van Driel & Wies Bekhuis made it to the bronze medal match, set to start an hour earlier. To fight for their first Beach Pro Tour podium as a team and the first Elite podium for either of the them, Van Driel & Bekhuis will take on reigning Olympic champions Ana Patricia Ramos & Eduarda Santos Lisboa (Duda).

Watch the Brasilia Elite on VBTV

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

Carol & Barbara coped with the toughest of challenges, overcoming both Paris 2024 finalists in one day. First, they managed to take out seventh-seeded Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson of Canada in straight sets, 2-0 (21-14, 21-15), with a 20-point match high from Carol.

Then, they had to face 10^th-seeded gold medalists Ana Patricia & Duda in a titanic all-Brazilian clash that lasted three sets and resulted in a 2-1 (19-21, 21-15, 15-12) comeback victory for fifth-seeded Carol & Barbara. In that game, Rebecca led the way with 25 points, while Carol added another 20, including three aces and three kill blocks. Ana Patricia led the opponents with 19 points, including three blocks and ace. This will be the second final for the recently formed duo, which also won the Quintana Roo Elite in Mexico three weeks ago.

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Second-seeded Nuss & Brasher persevered through a tough second set in their quarterfinal against Italy’s Valentina Gottardi & Reka Orsi Toth, which was pushed deep into overtime, and managed to close the match in straight sets, 2-0 (21-18, 25-23). While each of the two Italians scored more points than each of the two Americans in this match, they also committed far more unforced errors (15 against 1!), which made the big difference towards the outcome.

The American Olympians advanced to a semifinal encounter with Van Driel & Bekhuis. The Dutch qualifiers, seeded 23^rd in the 24-team main bracket, continued their dream run in Brasilia with a 2-0 (21-18, 23-21) shutout of third-seeded Terese Cannon & Megan Kraft of the United States, thanks to some solid serving from Bekhuis.

Van Driel & Bekhuis put up quite a fight in their semifinal against Nuss & Brasher, with Bekhuis producing an impressive seven aces, but again playing with much fewer mistakes than the opponents, the Americans managed to close the match in straight sets, 2-0 (26-24, 21-17).