Ciezkowska and Lunio take silver at home in Krakow
Futures in Europe
Malgorzata Ciezkowska and Urszula Lunio represented Europe at the podium on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour this weekend, taking silver in their Futures home tournament in Krakow, Poland, which came to an end on Sunday.
The only European duo to make it to the semifinals in the women-only tournament held at the Jan Nowak-Jeziorański Square, the 19-year-old Ciezkowska and the 20-year-old Lunio advanced to the gold medal match, but couldn’t handle Australians Stefanie Fejes and Georgia Johnson, falling in the tie-breaker (17-21, 21-11, 15-9).
The reigning U20 European champions, the Polish stepped on the podium for the second time in a week after they also took silver at the 2024 U22 EuroBeachVolley, last Sunday, in Termal, Türkiye. The tournament in Krakow marked the first international podium appearance at the senior level for the two, who last year also took bronze at the FIVB U21 World Championships in Thailand.
Bronze in Krakow went to Americans Brooke Sweat, a Rio 2016 Olympian, and Kennedy Coakley, who beat compatriots Madison Shields and Delaney Peranich in two sets (21-17, 21-14) for third place. Three European duos finished in fifth place, ending their campaigns in the quarterfinals – Poland’s Justyna Tomala/Aleksandra Zdon and Marta Lodej/Julia Kielak and Germany’s Anna-Lena Grüne/Chenoa Christ.
Next week, European teams will have multiple opportunities to win medals on the Beach Pro Tour as three Futures events will be held simultaneously in the continent – double-genders in Ios, Greece, and Messina, Italy, and a men’s tournament in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Beach Pro Tour Futures events in Europe are run by the CEV in close cooperation with Volleyball World and provide teams from the continent with several opportunities to compete and gain valuable international ranking points.