Alanya, Turkey, July 13, 2017.  Katarzyna Kociolek and Dorota Strag were the big heroes of the first competition day at the 2017 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Alanya Masters. The Polish pair persevered through the sweltering heat on the Turkish Mediterranean coast and two hard-fought tie-breaker matches to become one of the four teams that completed the main draw line-up.
 
In the first qualification round, Kociolek and Strag, seeded ninth in the eleven-team qualification tournament, fought their way to a 2-1 (21-18, 17-21, 15-13) victory over ninth-seeded Belgians Liesbeth Mouha and Katrien Gielen.

The challenge was even tougher for their second-round match as the Polish duo had to face the top-seeded Germans Katarina Schillerwein and Cinja Tillmann. The late afternoon heat was even more excessive, but the two sides showed a top-level performance on the sand. After winning the first set, Kociolek and Strag started to suffer the extremity of the situation. Dorota Strag needed a medical time-out in the second set, but managed to continue. The Germans tied the match with a narrow overtime win in the second set. They were up 7-5 in the tie-break, when Kociolek asked for a medical break, gasping for air. It almost looked like the match was over, but somehow the Polish players found the strength to stand on their feet and pull off a 2-1 (21-14, 22-24, 16-14) victory.

“I am really, really happy and really, really exhausted,” Dorota Strag found some extra energy to speak in a post-game interview. “We played two tie-breaks in the sun. It was incredibly hot. Yesterday we had a 16-hour trip. But we were so into this game, we played with all our hearts and I think because of that we won. In the main draw we will do all that we can to make the final four.”



Latvia’s Marta Ozolina and Alise Lece, seeded sixth, were the other team that played two games on Thursday and managed to qualify for the main draw. After handing Greece’s Dimitra Manavi and Aliki Alexandra Spiliotopoulou a 2-0 (21-19, 21-15) shutout, the Latvians went on to upset third-seeded Czechs Martina Bonnerova and Sarka Nakladalova with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-18) win.

Fifth-seeded Nicole Eiholzer and Dunja Gerson from Switzerland made the main draw with a 2-0 (21-18, 21-18) victory over France’s Lézana Placette/Aline Chamereau, seeded fourth.

The second seed Amaranta Fernandez Navarro and Angela Lobato from Spain completed the main draw line-up, but not before playing a tough three-set match against tenth-seeded Ukrainians Myloslava Bezpalko and Diana Lunina – 2-1 (21-11, 20-22, 15-10).

The main draw action is set to start on Friday with the first whistle expected to sound at 08:00 local time.

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