Elite16 - Saquarema, BRA - 2025

Nuss/Brasher and Thamela/Victoria meet for gold in Saquarema

Americans and Brazilians will decide the title of the second Elite event of the season

Published 01:31, 13 Apr 2025

Nuss/Brasher (USA) vs. Müller/Tillmann (GER) - Semifinals #41199573

Nuss dives to make a save during Saturday's semifinals

Repeating what happened two weeks ago, in Quintana Roo, during the first Elite event of the 2025 Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour season, teams from beach volleyball powerhouses the United States and hosts Brazil will meet for gold in Saquarema on Sunday.

The last two teams standing in the women’s tournament at the Campo de Aviação, USA’s Kristen Nuss/Taryn Brasher and Brazil’s Thamela Coradello/Victoria Lopes will appear in the gold medal match, scheduled for 13:00 local time (16:00 GMT). One hour earlier, Germany’s Svenja Müller/Cinja Tillmann and USA’s Kelly Cheng/Molly Shaw will play for bronze.

Watch the Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Elite live on VBTV

Paris Olympians Nuss and Brasher are set to make their third-straight podium appearance on the Beach Pro Tour in Saquarema after they won last year’s Finals in Doha and secured bronze in Quintana Roo last month. Since they started competing internationally, in 2021, the Americans made it to 11 gold medal matches, coming out on top in eight of them.

Still undefeated in Brazil this week, they started the day on Saturday in the quarterfinals, where they took compatriots Terese Cannon and Megan Kraft down in straight sets (21-13, 21-18). Later, in the semifinals, the two triumphed in a three-set (21-16, 17-21, 15-12) match against Müller and Tillmann.

“They’re so incredibly good,” Nuss said about the Germans. “Passing their serves is already a very difficult challenge. It was very hard to get the ball on the sand, and I was very fortunate that Taryn was delivering some excellent sets. We’re thankful to be able to play again tomorrow.”

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Beach Pro Tour Saquarema Elite – Match Schedule

Thamela and Victoria, who joined forces halfway through the 2024 season, will play their second final on the Beach Pro Tour and again it will be in Brazil, where they won last year’s João Pessoa Elite event in October. The two were at the top of the podium in Saquarema as recently as last Sunday, when they won gold in a Brazilian Tour event held in the city.

The Brazilians received a second chance in the tournament after they advanced to the quarterfinals despite losing in the Round of 12 on Friday and made the most of it, winning a pair of matches on Saturday to find their way to the gold medal match – they swept (21-13, 21-17) Latvian Olympians Tina Graudina and Anastasija Samoilova in the quarterfinals and came back to beat Americans Cheng and Shaw 2-1 (16-21, 21-19, 15-13) in the semifinals.

“I’m very happy to play another final here in Saquarema,” Victoria reacted. “The fans were amazing, they really made a difference for us tonight, and we count on them to push us again tomorrow in the gold medal match.”