FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship: Brazil’s Duda and Ana Patricia Bagged the Trophy in Lucerne

Lucerne, Switzerland, May 16, 2016 – Eduarda ‘Duda’ Santos Lisboa and Ana Patricia Silva Ramos both age 17 bagged the top crown at the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships on Monday in Lucerne. The youth olympic champions from Brazil easily handled Russia’s Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina 2-0 (21-18, 21-8) in the final.

The Russians plan was to target the tall Ana Patricia at all times but it didn't matter since the blocker stayed compose and was able to hit the ball to the sand.

This is the first FIVB age-group title of Ana Patricia  besides the Youth Olympic gold in 2014 with Duda in Nanjing. While Eduarda has already seven medals before in her short career. She won silver at the 2013 U23, gold at the U19 in 2013 and 2014 with different partners and two gold (2016 Fortaleza, Maceio), one silver (2015 Puerto Vallarta) and one bronze (2015 Prague) with Elize Secomandi Maia at World Tour Opens.

In the battle for Bronze, Megan and Nicole McNamara from Canada won the medal in an exciting come from behind  from one set down (18-21, 23-21, 15-10) against USA’s Sarah Sponcil and Torrey Van Winden.

In men's FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championships, fellow Brazilians George Souto Maior Wanderley (19) and Arthur Diego Mariano Lanci (20) got the gold after beating  Josue Gaston Gaxiola Leyva and Jose Luis Rubio Camargo from Mexico 2-0 (21-17, 22-20) in the final.

FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship: Canadian twins Megan and Nicole McNamara Advances to Semi-final Round

Canadian twins Megan and Nicole McNamara advances in the FIVB Beach Volleyball U21 World Championship on Sunday May 15, 2016 after beating Paraguay’s Erika Mongelos Bobadilla and Michelle Valiente Amarilla in the quarterfinals 2-0 (21-19, 21-18). They will be up against 4th seeded Russians Nadezda Makroguzova and Svetlana Kholomina.

The Canadian twins kept their lead throughout the match and got their first match point at 20-16. They capped their win with a clever dink over Erika on their 3rd match point.

Women's Beach Volleyball Championship: USC Wins Inaugural Tournament

Number 1 ranked University of Southern California Trojans made history when they defeated Number 2 Florida State (32-3) by a 3-0 count in the inaugural NCAA Beach Volleyball Championship on the sands of Gulf Place last Sunday, May 8, 2016.

The Trojans closed the season with a spectacular 30-match winning streak and secured back-to-back national titles in beach volleyball as the defending AVCA champions of 2015. Junior All-Americans Kelly Claes and Sara Hughes were named to the NCAA all-tournament team as the pair from the No. 1 position and sophomore Jo Kremer and senior Zoe Nightingale were all-tournament selections at the No. 5 spot.

The title is USC's 124th team title and the school's 101st NCAA championship; the 17th NCAA crown won by a USC women's team. The Trojans faced the top-seeded Seminoles twice and dropped just one point in four duals. USC's beach team repeated a piece of history the Trojans' indoor volleyball team accomplished in 1981 as the first-ever NCAA women's indoor volleyball champions. That team also won the previous national championship (the 1980 AIAW title).

The USC beach volleyball team break the record as the first-ever NCAA champion when Claes and Hughes completed the 21-15, 21-10 win over Julie Brown and Jace Pardon at the top court. The win solidified the duo's undefeated season (48-0) and extended their winning streak to an incredible 73 victories. Claes and Hughes dropped just one set all season and gave up only six sets through the duration of their streak.