Kathi and Lena keep Austria alive in the EuroBeachVolley
11.08.2021 - Vienna, Austria
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Katharina Schützenhöfer and Lena Plesiutschnig will be the only Austrian women competing in the elimination round of the A1 CEV EuroBeachVolley Vienna 2021 presented by Swatch as the pool play stage was concluded on Wednesday.
The top-ranked Austrian team had a good start of the day, defeating Czechs Michala Kvapilová and Martina Williams in three sets (21-18, 19-21, 15-12) but fell to Ukrainian twins Inna and Iryna Makhno in another three-setter (17-21, 21-17, 15-13) at the Red Bull Beach Arena. They finished second on Pool H and will play in the Round of 24 on Friday, when they will face Greeks Vasiliki Arvaniti and Penny Karagkouni.
“Fortunately, we won the most important match of the day and made it to tomorrow,” Plesiutsching commented. “But to lose a tie-breaker, 15-13, in front of our fans is tough. The atmosphere was amazing and it was great to play in front of this crowd. We’ll talk, fix our mistakes and come back stronger tomorrow.”
The three other Austrian teams entered in the event – Anja Dörfler/Nadine Strauss, Franziska Freidl/Eva Pfeffer and Ronja Klinger/Dorina Klinger – were all eliminated after back-to-back setbacks on their pools.
The Ukrainians are guaranteed in the Round of 16 of the EuroBeachVolley alongside the other seven pool winners – Germany’s Karla Borger/Julia Sude and Chantal Laboureur/Cinja Tillmann, the Netherland’s Sanne Keizer/Madelein Meppelink and Marleen van Iersel/Pleun Ypma, Latvia’s Tina Graudina/Anastasika Kravcenoka, Switzerland’s Nina Betschart/Tanja Hüberli, Russia’s Svetlana Kholomina/Ksenia Dabizha.
