Tokyo Olympic bronze medallists Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre had a positive start to their 2022 international season at the Tlaxcala Challenge event of the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour on Thursday.

The two 30-year-old Swiss players won a pair of matches at the Plaza de la Constitucion and were among the six teams that finished pool play undefeated in Mexico and are now guaranteed a place in the Round of 16 of the first international tournament of the year.

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Heidrich and Verge-Depre confirmed the top spot in Pool D with their straight-set (21-15, 21-16) victory against Americans Sara Hughes and Kelley Kolinske, who were playing together for the first time, on the centre court.

“We were pretty nervous for the first matches of the season,” Verge-Depre said. “We had some problems in finding our rhythm at the beginning, but continued to improve until the end and that was good.”

Earlier, the Olympic medallists had a family matchup with Anouk’s 23-year-old sister Zoe and her partner Esmee Bobner and came out on top in three sets (15-21, 21-17, 15-12). It was the first time the sisters played each other in an international event.

“Emotionally, it wasn’t easy to play my sister,” Verge-Depre added. “But it was really cool to see their progress and that they’re right behind us and trying to get to where we are at.”

Tlaxcala match schedule and results

Despite Hughes and Kolinske’s setback, the United States had two pool winners in Tlaxcala. Qualifiers Corinne Quiggle and Sarah Schermerhorn won Pool A after they defeated Brazilians Taiana Lima and Hegeile ‘Hege’ Santos 2-1 (21-19, 14-21, 15-9) while Emily Day and April Ross had a prolific first day as partners topping Pool C with a two-set (21-10, 21-19) victory over compatriots Lauren Fendrick and Emily Stockman.

Brazilian veterans Carolina Salgado and Barbara Seixas also had to defeat a team from their own country to finish at the top of Pool B. The two were dominant against Elize Maia and Thamela Coradello and left the court with a two-set (21-16, 21-10) victory.

“It was a very positive first day for us,” Barbara commented. “We had played Elize and Thamela a few times on the Brazilian Tour and had never defeated them. We knew we’d need a good strategy and to perform well to win and that’s what we did. Carol played great and we’re really satisfied with our performance today.”

The other two pool winners were Dutch Olympians Raisa Schoon and Katja Stam, who topped Pool E with their three-set (21-23, 21-18, 15-11) win over Brazilians Andressa Cavalcanti and Vitoria Rodrigues, and veterans Julia Sude and Karla Borger, who prevailed in an all-German Pool F duel against Cinja Tillmann and Svenja Muller in straight sets (21-17, 25-23).

After the conclusion of pool play, 18 teams (three from each pool) remain in contention for the title in Tlaxcala. Friday’s schedule will start with the Round of 18, followed by the Round of 16. The quarterfinals and semifinals will be played on Saturday while the medal matches are set to take place on Sunday.

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