31/07/2015 12:21
Goricanec/Hüberli are Austria’s nemesis, Schwaiger/Hansel miss out on quarterfinal spot, reigning European champions also out
2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship - Final
Klagenfurt, Austria, July 31, 2015. The ‘alpine rivalry’ between Switzerland and Austria is one of the most-known out there, especially in winter sports, but Beach Volleyball is not any exception to this tradition. On Friday morning, as the clouds were finally gone and the sun shone bright on the shores of the Wörthersee, Stefanie Schwaiger and Barbara Hansel took again the stage of the centre court hoping to provide a sell-out crowd with something to cheer about. Their home campaign, however, came to an end after they lost in three sets to Tanja Goricanec and Tanja Hüberli of Switzerland. Slovakia’s Natalia Dubovcova and Dominika Nestarcova caused the major sensation of the second elimination round at the 2015 CEV Beach Volleyball European Championship – Final with their 21-19, 21-18 win over reigning European champions Madelein Meppelink and Marleen van Iersel of The Netherlands.
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On Thursday night 2014 European silver medallists Goricanec/Hüberli had already upset the Austrian crowd edging past Baku 2015 European Games silver medal winners Katharina Schützenhöfer and Lena Plesiutschnig at the end of a dramatic match. About 12 hours later they got to play the leading home side, Schwaiger/Hansel, and it looked like the push of the home crowd made the difference in the opening set which the Austrians claimed with a comfortable 21-14. Goricanec and Hüberli got back on track with a very solid performance in the second (21-17) and set the pace also right from the start of the tie-break. Schwaiger/Hansel stormed back to draw level at 6 all and the score remained tight up to 8:8 with both tandems completing their side-outs. Goricanec and Hüberli stamped a 3-0 run to get the right edge at 11:8 but the home heroines were able to cut their deficit to a minimum at 11:10. Another break of three consecutive points for Goricanec/Hüberli, however, paved the way for four Swiss match balls; Hansel and Schwaiger survived the first one but Stefanie missed the next serve to shatter her and ‘Babsi’s’ dreams of home glory (15-11).
“It was a very difficult match and we knew that since we got to play two outstanding players,” Goricanec recounts. “On top of this, but this did not surprise us, the audience was evidently supporting the home team and this way things get even more difficult. However, we really enjoy to perform on this stage and the crowd provides the extra push that you need to play at your best. In the end, small things made the difference and decided the final result, but we served really well and I think this helped us. Now we just want to rest and we will discuss with our coach which tactics to use in our next match, we are only one step away from the semis and from a possible second European medal.”
As for Schwaiger and Hansel, they definitely gave everything they had and performing in Klagenfurt will certainly provide the boost they need as they try to qualify to next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Goricanec and Hüberli are not the only Swiss team that made the quarterfinals in Klagenfurt. Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Vergé-Dépré achieved the same feat following their fairly easy win over Laura Giombini/Giulia Toti of Italy (21-10, 21-17) and will now play Germany’s star team Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst that stamped a 21-12, 21-17 victory in their matchup with yet another Swiss tandem, Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr.
Greece’s Vasiliki Arvaniti/Maria Tsiartsiani are the most experienced duo out there and probably only a few had reckoned with them going into the tournament but on Friday morning they added another milestone to their comeback edging 2013 European silver medallists Liliana Fernandez Steiner/Elsa Baquerizo of Spain at the end of a thrilling match that lasted for 55 minutes (16-21, 23-21, 15-10).
Other teams that have progressed to the quarterfinals are Germany’s Chantal Laboureur/Julia Sude, Russia’s Evgenia Ukolova/Ekaterina Birlova and Poland’s Kinga Kolosinska/Monika Brzostek who also upset the Austrian crowd earlier on Friday morning with their 16-21, 21-8, 15-6 win over outsiders Cornelia Rimser/Nadine Strauss.
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