Vilnius, Lithuania, August, 8, 2013. When Vilnius held the CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship in 2011, two young Lithuanians lived the moment of their lives as they were crowned one of the most promising Beach Volleyball teams in Europe. Two years later, the same enthusiast athletes compete in the same venue with the same dream of claiming the gold medal. However, this time, Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte face the European competition as the biggest rising stars of the sport and as the real idols of the organizing country.
“It is a great feeling to be able to play at home. All our families will come to the matches, our friends, even our grandmothers.. everybody is going to be here to cheer for us during this tournament”, said Ieva Dumbauskaite. “I hope it will give us all the positive energy and all the power we need to fight in this tournament”.
They will need all the support they can find in order to fulfill their wishes to reach the final again, since the responsibility of leading the dreams of the whole country in the tournament have been placed on their young shoulders. They will not only encounter powerful rivals, but also they will have to balance the excitement of fighting for victory at home, the pledge of triumph imposed by being the main favorites for gold, and the desire of continuing a fairy tale career. However, Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte are used to the pressure and to break records.
Most athletes in the world could only dream of the successes that Ieva Dumbauskaite and Monika Povilaityte have achieved at just 18 years of age. In barely three seasons together, the players from the Lithuanian cities of Klaipeda and Tytubenai have earned such an impressive list of honors that the young athletes are now considered legends in the making. It took Dumbauskaite/Povilaityte only a few months as a team to cause a sensation; they presented an impressive demonstration of collective effort as in the 2011 CEV U18 Beach Volleyball European Championship celebrated in Vilnius they finished with the gold medal around their necks. The following year, the Lithuanian players confirmed their status of up-and-coming myths of the sport by winning the FIVB Youth World Championship and then earning the bronze medal at the CEV U20 European Championship in Hartberg, Austria.
After reaching the podium in all the main events they had played so far, the 175cm tall and 180cm tall athletes are continuing their path to glory this season by competing in the biggest world tournaments of the year. As a matter of fact, among other recognitions, Dumbauskaite/Povilaityte became the first Lithuanians to play in the Beach Volleyball World Championship, held a few weeks ago in Poland. “It was such an important competition for us”, Dumbauskaite said after their debut in the event of Mazury. “We were the first pair from Lithuania playing the World Championships and I am proud that I could be there.”
When analyzing the reasons for their success, the players, who left their hometowns to move to Vilnius so they could continue their progress, try to keep a level head. “It is a matter of character. You really need to want it. You need to say to yourself ‘Hey, I am here to be better’ and then learn something new in each one of your trainings” said Dumbauskaite, who alternates her hard work on the sand with her studies of journalism, and acts as the outspoken of the duo. “Yes, it is character and it is also heart”, agrees Povilaityte, the shyer of the two. “Our coach always tells us that it is the heart that helps you win matches. If you are focused and keep your level of playing during the game, at the end you have to put your heart into it. If you do it, you win”, pointed out Dumbauskaite.
In a sport like Beach Volleyball, determined by the fact that everything and anything goes through just the two players on the sand, you do not have so many people to rely on, or to blame, for that matter. “I think that you have to get upset with yourself”, said Dumbauskaite, “You have to stop and say to yourself ‘I want to win!’. It is the only way!”. This approach should not have consequences on the teammate, though. Both players, despite their youth, have learned the importance to act as a team. “When it comes to your partner, you have to understand that she is another human being; you have to tolerate her and respect her and take care of each other”, commented Dumbauskaite, showing an uncommon wisdom.
The two players will need a handful of this poise, since they were unable to present the desired debut on the tournament. Dumbauskaite/Povilaityte paid the nervousness and pressure of the roller coaster of the last hours with a defeat in the tie-break against Russia’s Ksenia Dabizha/Anna Gorbunova. The local heroines will then try to give their best to recover their confidence in the following matches and keep alive their dream of home gold.
Now it is time for the national idols to close a circle this week. The CEV U20 European Championship will determine if two new legends of the sport are flourishing in Vilnius.
Click here for more information on the tournament, including a detailed schedule and results.