26/08/2015 21:20
Home heroines Paquete/Vasques leave their mark in Macedo de Cavaleiros
2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship
Macedo de Cavaleiros, Portugal, August 26, 2015. Portugal’s Vanessa Paquete, 20, and the only 16-year old Margarida Vasques started on Wednesday their home campaign at the 2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship in Macedo de Cavaleiros on a high note and after scoring two consecutive wins they have been picked as the ones who will carry the host country’s dreams of glory in this competition.
Vanessa Paquete and Margarida Vasques started their adventure beating Norway’s Live Lunde and Sunniva Helland-Hansen by 2-0 (21-10, 22-20) in the opening match of this year’s tournament, and after that they followed up with another win, this time over the Slovenian duo Spela Morgan/Pija Stegel, and they did so without dropping any set as well (21-18, 21-14).
Paquete and Vasques will take centre stage on Thursday as the leadership of Pool A will be at stake. Despite having already clinched a spot in the next round, the Portuguese team will face Latvia’s Alise Lece and Marta Ozolina, who are also undefeated in this competition, for the top position of their group, which would provide the home heroines with a ‘bye’ for the first elimination round.
“It was a great day, we played very well and entered the first match highly concentrated and focussed on the service and the side-out. In the second set we got to see a reaction from the Norwegian team but we kept the pressure high and this way we closed the match,” says Margarida Vasques adding: “In the second match we stuck to our game plan and that eventually paid off. We finished the day with great results.”
“Latvia also registered two wins and we are aware of their quality. Now we need to rest and study our next opponents”, says partner Vanessa Paquete. “Tomorrow is a new day and we know that we have already clinched a place in the next round, so we are going for the leadership which would then give us a 9th place in the final standing according to the worst-case scenario,” she concludes.
All matches of the 2015 CEV U22 Beach Volleyball European Championship are streamed live and for free at LAOLA1.tv
You can follow the competition also on social media with the official hashtag #EuroBeachVolleyU22
Click here for more info including entry lists, results, pictures and much more
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