Megan and Nicole McNamara will be on the court on Sunday, the final day of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Challenge event in Agadir, Morocco, after the Canadian twins advanced to the semifinals of the first stop of the tour on the African continent.

The 24-year-old McNamaras will face Czechs Barbora Hermannova and Marie-Sara Stochlova in the second semifinal of the women’s tournament, which is scheduled to start at 10.00 local time (9.00 GMT) on Sunday. The other matchup, which will reunite Italians Marta Menegatti and Valentina Gottardi and Dutch pair Emma Piersma and Mexime van Driel, will begin one hour earlier.

The bronze medal match in Agadir is scheduled for 14.30 local time (13.30 GMT) while the gold medal match is set to begin at 17.00 local time (16.00 GMT).

· Watch all the matches at the Agadir Challenge live or on demand on Volleyball TV.

The Agadir Challenge will mark the first appearance of the Canadian twins in the semifinals of a Beach Pro Tour event and also the first time they compete on the final day of an international event since 2018, when they were fourth at an FIVB World Tour stop in Chetumal, Mexico.

Megan and Nicole have played in seven Beach Pro Tour events across four continents in 2022, as well as the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship, and their best result so far was a fifth-place at the Doha Challenge, in May.

The two have been in excellent form this week in Morocco, having won all of their four matches so far, while dropping a single set. That happened in the Round of 16, when the Canadians were pushed to three sets (21-14, 19-21, 15-12) by Americans Corinne Quiggle and Sarah Schermerhorn, but still emerged victorious.

In the quarterfinals, they had another close match, but were able to handle Swiss Esmee Bobner and Zoe Verge-Depre in two sets (21-19, 22-20) to advance.

Agadir Challenge - Match Schedule and Results

Their semifinal opponents, Hermannova and Stochlova had to play three matches on Saturday to find their way to their first semifinal appearance as partners. The Czechs, who had one win and one loss in pool play, started the day in the Round of 18, where they downed Australians Nicole Baird and Phoebe Bell 2-0 (21-19, 21-14).

Later, in the Round of 16, they again needed just two sets (21-15, 21-17) to advance against Finland's Niina Ahtianien and Anniina Parkkinen. Hermannova and Stochlova showed great endurance in the quarterfinals, as they were pushed to three sets (21-14, 19-21, 15-10) by Spanish team Maria Carro and Angela Lobato, but still had the energy to take the victory.

Menegatti and Gottardi remain perfect in Agadir after they won their first elimination matches and are now undefeated in their four games. The Italians started the Saturday with a 2-1 (17-21, 21-11, 15-11) triumph against Americans Megan Kraft and Emily Stockman in the Round of 16 and ended it with a straight-set (21-14, 21-17) win over Germans Sandra Ittlinger and Isabel Schneider in the quarterfinals.

Piersma and van Driel, on the other hand, had a much longer road to make it to the semifinals in Morocco. The Dutch started the tournament in the qualifier and had to play six matches on their way to the medal rounds, winning five of them.

Three of their victories took place on Saturday, as they were one of the four teams that started the day in the Round of 18, where they prevailed over New Zealanders Shaunna Polley and Alice Zeimann 2-1 (23-21, 19-21, 15-10). A few hours later, in the Round of 16, the Dutch topped Lithuanians Erika Kliokmanaite and Monika Paulikiene in two sets (21-17, 21-16).

Piersma and van Driel saved their best performance of the day for the quarterfinals, where they swept (21-13, 21-16) Argentinean Olympians Ana Gallay and Fernanda Pereyra to reach the semifinals in just their second appearance in the main draw of a Challenge event.

Quick links:
Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour - Agadir Challenge
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Youtube