21/07/2017 19:22
Teams from Belarus, Belgium and Germany make Vilnius Satellite Main Draw
2017 CEV Beach Volleyball Satellite - Vilnius
Vilnius, Lithuania, July 21, 2017. The CEV-EEVZA Satellite Vilnius started on Friday with the qualification round and four teams from Germany, Belarus and Belgium eventually progressing to the Main Draw starting on Saturday morning.
After an easy 2-0 (21-17, 21-15) victory over Katja Stam/Emma Piersma from the Netherlands, Viktoryia Shalayeskaya/Viktoryia Siakretava of Belarus were able to claim a very close matchup with Latvia’s Agnese Caica/Ilze Liepinlauska with a spot in the Main Draw at stake. After a dramatic 2-1 (15-21, 22-20, 15-8) victory, the young players from Belarus sealed their place in the ‘money’ rounds.
Liesbeth Mouha/Katrien Gielen from Belgium comfortably secured their spot in the Main Draw after an easy 21-8, 21-13 win against Anja Dörfler/Stephanie Wiesmeyr from Austria followed by a 21-16, 21-19 win in the matchup with Emi van Driel/Raïsa Schoon from the Netherlands.
Two teams from Germany also qualified for the Main Draw starting on Saturday morning. Sabrina Karnbaum/Natascha Niemczyk did so with two consecutive 2-0 victories and Katarina Schillerwein/Cinja Tillmann (pictured) did so after displaying their impressive skills and power.
No Lithuanian teams were able to progress to the Main Draw from the qualification round. In a 29-minute game Karole Virbickaitė/Vytene Vitkauskaitė lost 0-2 (19-21, 16-21) to van Driel/ Schoon. Lithuanian youngsters Ieva Vasiliauskaitė/Gerda Grudzinskaitė first beat Austria’s Viktoria Mair/Marilena Preiml 2-1 (21-19, 20-22, 15-13), however they ended up losing 0-2 (16-21, 10-21) to Schillerwein and Tillmann in the second and last round of qualifications.
“We are pleased that we could test ourselves in such a high-level senior tournament. I think the results we achieved reflect our current abilities and skills. We could have shown a better performance when playing against the Germans, but we still lack experience. However, this tournament will certainly bear fruits for the future,” the 17-year-old Vasiliauskaitė said after the match.
Teams from Latvia and Germany will open the programme of the Main Draw on Saturday morning with a couple of derbies.
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