Cochabamba, Bolivia hosts the South American Beach Volleyball Tour – Beach Volleyball

Bolivia provides the backdrop for a stop on beach volleyball’s South American Tour for the second week running this weekend. 

After last weekend’s stop in Sucre, this time the competition will be at the Olympic Club in the city of Cochabamba and will feature men’s and women’s pairs from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

On Friday, March 28, the competition will get under way with pool matches that will continue into Saturday. Saturday afternoon will see both the quarterfinals and semifinals.

The tournament will climax on Sunday with the gold- and bronze-medal matches for both men and women.

Brazil leads the ranking of beach volleyball in 2014 for men and women. In the men’s category, Chile is second and Venezuela third. In the women's category, Brazil is followed by Argentina in second and Chile in third place.

Competitors:

Women:

ARG 1 - ANA MARIA GALLAY / GEORGINA KLUG

ARG 2 - JULIETA PUNTÍN / VIRGINIA ZONTA

BOL 1 - TANIA ISMAEL / MARIA LUISA ORTIZ

BOL 2 - AMALIA CALVO / DANIELA ARNEZ

BOL 3 - MARXIA REYES / DIVA OROPEZA

BOL 4 - KATHERINE URIARTE / ALEJANDRA OSSIO

BOL 5 - FERNANDA MAIDA / ADRIANA VILLARROEL

BRA 1- FERNANDA BERTI ALVES / ELIZE MAIA SECOMANDI

BRA2 - CAROLINA HORTA MAXIMO / CLAUDINERE BENTO SABINO

CHI 1 - MARIA FRANCESCA RIVAS / MARIA PILAR MARDONES

CHI 2 - MARIA JOSEFINA VÉLEZ / NATALIA DEL CARMEN DEPASSIER

COL - ANDREA GALINDO / CLAUDIA GALINDO

PAR - MICHELLE VALIENTE / GABRIELA FILIPPO

PER - MICHELLE SERNA / DIANA TORRES

URU - LIA FORTUNATI / FLORENCIA ROTTI

VEN - NORISBETH AGUDO / GABRIELA BRITO

Men:

ARG 1 - JULIAN AZAAD / PABLO BIANCHI

ARG 2 - NICOLAS CAPOGROSSO / IAN MEHAMED

BOL 1 - ROLANDO ISMAEL / RODRIGO PEREZ

BOL 2 - ISRAEL MARTÍNEZ / SERGIO FRANCO

BOL 3 - MAURICIO HEREDIA / LUIS BARRON

BOL 4 - LUIS CARLOS GARCÍA / SERGIO HAZOU

BRA 1 - MARCIO HENRIQUE BARROSO ARAUJO / THIAGO SANTOS BARBOSA

BRA 2 - HEVALDO SABINO MOREIRA /BRUNO MARCELO LIMA DE PAULO

CHI 1 - MARCO GRIMALT / ESTEBAN GRIMILY

CHI 2 - CRISTOBAL MARTINEZ / GUILLERMO JIMENEZ

COL - JULIAN CARMONA / JUAN CAMILO GIL

PAR - ELIOTH FRUTOS / CARLOS PEREZ

PER - LUIS BRAMONT ARIAS / JIMY HEREDIA

URU - RENZO CAIRUS / NICOLÁS ZANOTTA

VEN 1 - JESUS VILLAFAÑE / JACKSON HENRIQUEZ

VEN 2 - RONALD FAYOLA / LEONARD COLINA

The gold goes to Brazil and Chile in Sucre - South American Beach Volleyball

The fifth stop of the South American Beach Volleyball Tour enjoyed quite of sunshine as Brazilians Amanda Maltez/ Erica Almeida and Chilean cousins Marco and Esteban Grimalt managed to take away gold at the Garcilaso Sucre stadium.

Argentine’s Ana Gallay/ Georgina Klug settled for the women’s silver medal, whereas Brazilians Fabio Bastos/ Saymon Santos seized the men’s silver. The Colombian Galindo sisters, Andrea and Claudia, took home the women’s bronze while Jesus Villafañ/ Jackson Henriquez conquered the men’s.

Maltez/ Almeida, competing for the first time for Brazil, were not intimidated by the experience of Gallay and Klug, and ran out 2-1 (21-19, 19-21, 15-12) winners after a solid game and an undefeated run in the tournament.

"I'm speechless!” Maltez exclaimed. “It was a tense game, but we won our first international title. Hopefully others will come.”

Marco and Esteban Grimalt, who won on the previous stop in Lima, looked strong against Brazilians Fabio Bastos/ Saymon Santos and ended convincing winners, 21-9, 21-14.
“We were able to impose our rhythm,” Esteban Grimalt. “We put pressure on Fabio and were able to prevail. We are very happy with this title.”

Andrea/ Claudia Galindo beat Venezuelans Gabriela Brito/ Norisbeth Agudo 2-0 (21-16, 21-14) for the bronze, while Jesus Villafañe/ Igor Hernandez of Venezuela overcame Uruguay’s Nicolas Zanota/ Renzo Cairus 21-13, 21-17 in the men’s section.

The competition continues next weekend in another Bolivian city, Cochabamba.

Classification

Women
1 – Brazil
2 – Argentina
3 – Colombia
4 – Venezuela
5-8 – Uruguay, Bolivia 1, Chile 1, Paraguay
9-16 – Argentina 2, Bolivia 5, Chile 2, Bolivia 6, Bolivia 2, Bolivia 3, Bolivia 4, Bolivia 7

Men
1 – Chile
2 – Brazil
3 – Venezuela
4 – Uruguay
5-8 – Venezuela 2, Argentina 1, Bolivia 2, Bolivia 1
9-16 – Chile 2, Paraguay, Bolivia 6, Argentina 2, Bolivia 5, Colombia, Bolivia 3, Bolivia 4

Brazil Boys Youth National Team falls to Mexico in a friendly match – Volleyball News

The U-19 Boys National Volleyball Teams from Mexico and Brazil contested their skills in a friendly match on Tuesday, 2^nd April 2013. Brazilian City of Saquarema provided the backdrop for the competition. Nonetheless, the home team failed to benefit from familiar conditions.

Mexico overpowered the hosts in four-set affair 3-1 (22-25, 25-16, 27-25, 25-18). It was the third friendly match between two teams, which helped Mexican squad to take sweet revenge of the last two defeats. Brazil won the first two matches of the tournament, but fell to Mexico in the third match.

Ariel Acosta, one of the Mexican players, expressed his emotions in the following manner: “It is a big day for our team with this win against a monster like Brazil. We made it clear that this is not just any team".

Team Mexico has been training in Brazil since 24^th March at the Saquarema High Performance Centre of Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV) is the facility that Mexican team has been using, in order to prepare for the upcoming event of 2013 Youth World Championship.

The 2013 U-19 World Championship is scheduled to take place from June 27 to July 7 in Mexico.

Team Mexico is scheduled to play more friendly matches before the start of World Championship.

Poland sets higher aims after claiming final round berth – Volleyball

Men’s national volleyball team of Poland secured a trip to Sofia, Bulgaria after beating archrival Brazil in the last match of first round of the 2012 FIVB World League on Sunday, June 17.

Poles proved to be better in the four-set match and clinched success by sending 25-22, 25-23, 21-25, and 25-22 on board. The Ice Arena in Tampere, Finland provided the backdrop for the thrilling encounter. Success enabled Poland to join Bulgaria in the final round of the tournament and now the Poles have great many expectations to fulfil their dreams of holding the title trophy.

The head coach of the Polish squad Andrea Anastasi successfully led his team to the influential round. Next up, he has only one thing on mind and that is to put body, mind, and soul for the final victory.

To catch more buzz on the story, you may choose to visit the following link: http://blogs.bettor.com/Poland-sets-higher-aims-after-claiming-final-round-berth-Volleyball-news-a163399

Brazil edges out hosts Poland in five-set thriller – Volleyball news

Poland lost to Brazil in a five-set thriller on Sunday while playing at home in front of more than 5,000 spectators.

The Pool D teams fought a great volleyball battle, which continued for almost two hours. Visiting squad Brazil proved to be better and overpowered the Polish counterparts, 3-2 (25-15, 25-13, 23-25, 22-25, 15-10). Atlas Arena in Polish city Lodz provided the backdrop for the match. Brazil completed the winning streak of three matches whereas Poland ended the first leg of 2012 FIVB World Grand Prix with 1-2 record.

Fernanda Rodrigues of Brazil topped all the scorers with match-high 18 points, which included 15 winning spikes and three serve aces. Poland’s Katarzyna Skowronska-Dolata added 13 points and emerged as top-scorer in the home team.

Visit the following link, in order to catch the complete details: http://blogs.bettor.com/Brazil-edges-out-hosts-Poland-in-five-set-thriller-Volleyball-news-a161541

Brazil falls to Poland in five-set thriller – Volleyball news

The Ricoh Coliseum in Toronto, Canada hosted a thrilling match on Friday, which featured two top-notch rivals of the volleyball world.

Brazil clashed with Poland in the second match of Pool B and fought a head-to-head battle. After an incredibly close competition, Poland claimed 3-2 victory over Brazil. Poles started off well and captured the first two sets by posting 25-22 and 27-25 on board.

 However, Brazil came up with improved performance and captured the next two set, 27-25 and 25-22. In the fifth and final set of the match, Poland scored 15-12 and settled for match victory. More than 7,000 spectators witnessed the match.

To read more, you may choose to visit the following link: http://blogs.bettor.com/Brazil-falls-to-Poland-in-five-set-thriller-Volleyball-news-a155463

Vieira and Lilliane claim Qualification berth via Country Quota Playoffs - 2012 Beijing Grand Slam

The Brazilian female beach volleyball team of Vieira-Lili defeated Maria Clara-Raquel in the Country Quota playoffs on Monday and advanced to the Qualification Tournament. Vieira-Lili posted 2-1 (16-21, 21-11, 15-9) win over compatriot duo and edged them out. 

Lilliane shared her thoughts after the match. She said, “Brazilian country-quota matches are very hard to play, because we know each other very well. We tried to make our best, to play together, sometimes they were playing better than us, but we can play beautiful game for the crowd and for us. That’s the most important things.” 

 “We want semifinal and final, for sure, we expect our best,” Lili added. “We went to the test event in London. It’s a really nice place and we want to play there, but I think it’s difficult now, because Talita/Antonelli and Larissa/Juliana have many points, we just expect to make our best.”

Brief overview of women's Country Quota Playoff at the 2012 Brasilia Open

The 2012 SWATCH World Tour kicked off on Sunday, April 15 with the advent of Brasilia Open. In the women's section, duos from Brazil and Germany competed at the Country Quota Playoffs on day-1. A total of six Brazilian tandems fought for the berths in the Qualification Tournament, while Germany had only two pairs in CQ stage.

Maria Clara-Raquel and Shaylyn-Leã of Brazil opened the day with a three-set match, where former posted 2-1 (21-18, 23-25, 15-13) victory. On the other court, German pair of Borger and Büthe defeated compatriots Bieneck and Großne. They finished the match in straight sets of 2-0 (21-17, 21-16).

In the other other two Country Quota matches, Brazilian Agatha-Seixas and Érica Freitas-Damasio B. Soares clinched success. The first duo stamped 2-0 (21-14, 21-18) win over Michelle Carvalho-Soares, while second winning pair claimed 2-1 (21-12, 19-21, 15-12) victory against the duo of Renata and Elize Maia.

Hence, the four winning duos qualified for next stage of the tournament whereas loser got eliminated.

Larissa-Juliana of Brazil finish 3-0 in Pool C of the Mazury Orlen Grand Slam – Volleyball News

The dynamic duo of Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca from Brazil finished the first round of the Mazury Orlen Grand Slam Main Draw with an impeccable 3-0 record.

The South American duo kicked off the action in Pool C alongside pairs from the Netherlands, Spain, and Czech Republic. According to the set formula of the competition, Juliana-Larissa played two matches on the first day, while completed the series of three matches on the next day.
In their first match of the Mazury Orlen Grand Slam on Wednesday, they clashed with Dutch pairing of Stiekema and Braakman. The 30^th-seeded duo from Netherlands created a bit of trouble for Juliana-Larissa in the second set, but eventually ended up on the losing side. Brazilian musketeers posted 2-1 (21-18, 19-21, 15-13) win over opponents in 48 minutes.

Juliana staged an eye-catching action in the first set of the match. She was joined by equally talented Larissa, who made good use of her hands and mind in the game. Both players perfectly complimented each other and secured first stanza with three points.

The Dutch pair hit back in the following set and managed to overcome the resilient rivals. They levelled the score by sending 21-19 on board. In the decisive third-set, Juliana-Larissa bounced back and regained better status. They closed third set with two points and settled for victory.

Juliana-Larissa appeared in another match on Wednesday and took on Spain’s Liliana-Baquerizo. First set was totally dominated by Brazilians as they offered strong offense and solid defence to the competitors. Spanish ladies could only score 12 points and suffered the loss of opening set (21-12). Comparatively saying, the Spaniards improved in the following set and gave a good competition to Juliana-Larissa. Nevertheless, they dropped the set with a small deficit (21-19) and gave the match to Juliana-Larissa in straight sets. The final set score was 2-0 (21-12, 21-19). The match decision was out in 39 minutes.

Juliana-Larissa remained undefeated in the opening two matches and finished the day with 2-0 record.

Next up, the Brazilian tandem returned to action on Thursday. Czech Republic’s Klapalova-Hajeckova came to face Juliana-Larissa in third match of the Main Draw in Pool C. Brazilians pair maintained its dominance on the net and edged out Czech team in straight sets. They posted 21-14, 21-18 on board and announced match victory in 33 minutes.

After completing the winning streak of three matches, Juliana-Larissa advanced to the top-16 teams of the competition. They are set to meet Mouha-Gielen of Belgium in the next encounter on Friday. Check back for news and updates.