Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medallists Mariafe Artacho Del Solar & Taliqua Clancy of Australia won the second women’s eighthfinal at the Paris 2024 Olympic beach volleyball tournament and advanced to a quarterfinal clash with Switzerland’s Esmee Bobner & Zoe Verge-Depre. Then, Switzerland’s Tanja Huberli & Nina Brunner managed to overcome the resistance of Spain’s Liliana Fernandez & Paula Soria and are now already awaiting the name of their quarterfinal opponent.

Seventh-seeded Huberli & Brunner continued to show the excellent shape they are in at the Olympics and produced one more win in their impeccable Paris 2024 campaign so far. In Sunday’s eighthfinal against 13^th-seeded Liliana & Paula, the Swiss pair registered their fourth consecutive straight-set win, 2-0 (23-21, 21-16).

Liliana, for whom it turned out to be the last Olympic match in a remarkable beach volleyball career, and Paula were close to spoiling that perfection when they reached the first two set points in the match. Huberli & Brunner, however, survived both and then stepped forward with three in a row to claim the set. They were much more dominant in the second set and although the Spaniards kept up the fight, the Swiss closed the match with Huberli putting away the winner. She was the best scorer of the game with 20 points, including three blocks and an ace. Brunner fired four aces to finish with 15 points. Liliana also scored four aces to lead her team with 14 points.

“The match was tough,” Huberli commented. “We had some tough moments. I think they played really brave, but we expected it that they would come and give everything, especially a lot of risk in serving, and that’s what they did well and with a lot of success. So we were under pressure all the time, and I think our service level was not as good as it was in the first three games, but it was OK. It’s amazing! You cannot expect that you go through all the games like we did in the group stage, and I think some moments like this, if you have them in the tournament, can also be very helpful.”

In the quarterfinals, Huberli & Brunner will meet the winner of the last of Sunday’s eighthfinals, between reigning world champions Sara Hughes & Kelly Cheng of the United States and Italy’s Valentina Gottardi & Marta Menegatti, starting at 22:00 local time (20:00 UTC).

“They are both great teams, but I think from now on there are only really great teams,” Brunner told the FIVB. “We are very happy to reach the quarterfinals at the Olympics. It’s so cool! It’s better than in Tokyo. It’s what we wanted and now we can really give everything we have for every game and enjoy this amazing stadium. And then, let’s see how far we can go… We did everything to be prepared now and I think we are, but in the end, it’s always about this day, this moment, and there are so many teams that are on the same level, more or less. So we are looking forward, for sure.”

Earlier on Sunday afternoon, 14^th-seeded Mariafe & Clancy achieved a 2-0 (24-22, 21-14) upset of fifth-seeded Brazilians Carol Solberg & Barbara Seixas.

In the first set, the Australians wiped out a four-point deficit before reaching set point. Carol & Barbara fought back to deny three opponent set points, but on the fourth, Clancy closed it off at 24-22. Riding the momentum, the Aussies dominated the second set. Putting the ball over straight from defence, Mariafe delivered the 21-14 match winner. While the Australian team were generally much better organized in defence, Clancy also made a huge difference with her six aces and 20 kills in attack that shaped up her 26-point match high.

Mariafe & Clancy are set to take on undefeated Esmee & Zoe in one of the quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: schedule and results

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