Brasilia, Brazil, April 29, 2018 - The teams of Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola and Taiana Lima/Carol Horta will carry a good momentum to the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour Huntington Beach Open as the duos won the Brazilian Super Praia, the closing tournament of the country’s season, which reunites the best 16 teams of the country, in Brasília.
Evandro and Andre, the 2017 world champions, won another title in their recent partnership by posting a 2-1 (21-19, 19-21, 15-11) victory over Rio 2016 Olympic champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Schimdt, who had prevailed in each of the first four editions of the tournament. Evandro and Andre had also won the national tour’s points title a few weeks ago.
“We knew that details would decide the match and that whichever team made the fewer mistakes would win. Bruno was playing at home and the fans were behind them, but we played really well and that’s because of our staff, which works really hard for us. Now we’ll try to get some rest and travel to the Unites States to compete in the World Tour.”
Hevaldo Moreira and Arthur Lanci climbed the podium in third place after they defeated Alvaro Filho and Saymon Barbosa in straight sets (21-17, 21-18) in the bronze medal match.
In the women’s tournament, Taiana and Carol Horta, who recently joined forces after winning the silver medal in the five-star Fort Lauderdale Major, topped the Super Praia’s podium as they prevailed over the young Tainá Bigi, 23, and Victoria Lopes, 19, in the two-set (21-19, 23-21) gold medal match. It was their first title as a team.
Taiana Lima (left) and Carol Horta (right) with Marcelo Carvalhaes
“We had a couple of tough results and winning the Super Praia is good for our confidence. It shows we are headed in the right direction and that we need to keep working and be patient. We hope we can keep achieving our goals as a team,” Carol Horta said.
Rio 2016 Olympic silver medallist Barbara Seixas and her partner Fernanda Alves finished third after a straight-set 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) victory over Josi Alves and Lili Maestrini. The national tour points champions, Carol Salgado and Maria Elisa Antonelli, finished fifth in the Super Praia.
The Brazilian Volleyball Federation also awarded individual prizes to the best players of the season in both genders:
Best Player: Carol Salgado & Andre Loyola
Best Server: Maria Elisa Antonelli & Evandro Goncalves
Best Receiver: Eduarda "Duda" Lisboa & Bruno Oscar Schmidt
Best Setter: Taiana Lima & Bruno Oscar Schmidt
Best Spiker: Ana Patrícia Ramos & Evandro Goncalves
Best Blocker: Ana Patrícia Ramos & Alison Cerutti
Best Defender: Taiana Lima & Guto Carvalhaes
Rookie of the Year: Victoria Lopes & Adrielson dos Santos
Most Improved Player: Ana Patrícia Ramos & George Wanderley
Best Coach: Luciano Kioday (Carol Salgado/Maria Antonelli) & Ednilson Costa (Evandro/Andre)
Craque da Galera (fans voting): Agatha Bednarczuk & Bruno Oscar Schmidt