Beach volleyball powerhouse the United States dominated pool play in the women’s tournament of this week’s Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite event held in Saquarema.

Three American duos won their pools at the Campo de Aviação on Thursday and advanced directly to the Round of 12 of the event, alongside partnerships from hosts Brazil, Germany and Latvia.

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Friday’s match schedule in Saquarema will feature the six Round of 18 duels taking place from 12:00 local time (15:00 GMT) to 15:00 (18:00 GMT), with the six Round of 12 duels happening later, from 18:00 (21:00 GMT) to 21:00 (0:00 GMT, Saturday).

Temporary partners at the start of the 2025 season, world champion Kelly Cheng and defender Molly Shaw secured the biggest victory of the day, coming back from a 18-16 deficit in the second set to beat reigning Olympic champions Eduarda ‘Duda’ Lisboa and Ana Patrícia Ramos of Brazil 2-1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-13) to rank first in Pool E.

Another American duo, the one of Hailey Harward and Molly Phillips, claimed the third and last spot of the pool in the elimination rounds by downing Paraguayans Michelle Valiente and Erika Bobadilla 2-0 (21-13, 21-16).

Pool B also had Americans and Brazilians meeting in the pool final and Paris Olympians Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher defeated the home team of Carol Salgado and Rebecca Cavalcanti 2-1 (21-16, 13-21, 15-12) to claim the top spot. Italians Valentina Gottardi and Reka Orsi Toth also continued alive in the tournament after they downed Polish qualifiers Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio in two sets (21-19, 21-18).

After winning medals in their last five Beach Pro Tour events, Americans Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft took another stop to make it to the podium this week with their victory in Pool C, confirmed with a 2-0 (25-23, 21-9) win over Australians Taliqua Clancy and Jana Milutinovic. French Olympians Lézana Placette and Alexia Richard topped Brazilian veterans Talita Antunes and Taiana Lima 2-0 (21-19, 21-14) and will join the Australians in the Round of 12.

Thamela Coradello and Victoria Lopes were the only Brazilian team to win their pool in Saquarema – they were the best team in Pool A after beating Lithuanian Olympians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte 2-0 (21-10, 22-20). French Clémence Vieira and Aline Chamereau overcame Americans Kylie Debert and Toni Rodriguez 2-0 (21-15, 21-19) and will also appear in the elimination rounds of the tournament.

World ranking leaders keep winning

FIVB World Ranking leaders Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillman of Germany also moved forward as pool winners – they were the best team in Pool D after a 2-0 (21-16, 21-15) victory over Brazilians Andressa Cavalcanti and Tainá Bigi. Swiss sisters Anouk and Zoé Vergé-Dépré secured their first victory as partners, downing Finnish Taru Lahti and Niina Athiainen 2-0 (21-11, 21-17), and will be in the Round of 18.

Pool F was the last to determine its winners after a weather delay and had Latvians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova prevailing over Paris Olympic silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada in the tie-breaker (21-19, 16-21, 16-14). The third team from the pool to appear in the elimination rounds in Saquarema is the one of Italians Giada Bianchi and Claudia Scampoli, who topped Brazilians Talita Calixto and Thainara Feitosa in another three-setter (22-24, 21-12, 15-8).

Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Elite – Match Schedule

The six Round of 18 duels on Friday will have Carol/Rebecca vs. Harward/Phillips, Melissa/Brandie vs. Placette/Richard, Clancy/Milutinovic vs. Bianchi/Scampoli, Duda/Ana Patrícia vs. Vieira/Chamereau, Paulikiene/Raupelyte vs. Anouk/Zoé and Andressa/Tainá vs. Gottardi/Orsi Toth.

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