European champions lead the women’s pack in Espinho
Beach Nations Cup Finals
Women’s beach volleyball teams from eight different countries will be in action this week in Espinho for the 2025 CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Finals and, among them will be some of the sport’s heavyweights in the continent.
The popular Praia da Baía will be the stage for the decisive phase of the Beach Nations Cup, an exciting ‘country vs country’ competition which resembles the Davis Cup in tennis that was introduced in the European beach volleyball calendar in 2022. Besides hosts Portugal, seven other nations, which all earned their spots in the Finals by winning their Preliminary Phase pools, will compete from Thursday to Sunday – Estonia, France, Germany, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Spain and Ukraine.
The eight countries qualified will be split into two pools of four. The three best teams in each pool will progress to the elimination rounds, with the pool winners advancing directly to the semifinals and countries ranked second and third playing a quarterfinal round.
CEV Beach Nations Cup Finals – Women
Reigning EuroBeachVolley champions Svenja Müller and Cinja Tillmann will get on the sand this week in Portugal, highlighting a lineup that features as many as 11 Olympians.
Müller and Tillmann, who represented Germany at the Paris Olympics and won bronze at the 2022 World Championship, are the main stars in a strong squad, which also features veteran blocker Sandra Ittlinger and up-and-coming defender Anna-Lena Grüne.
France will have four Olympians in their team as the country will send the two teams that represented the host country at last year's Paris Games, Lézana Placette/Alexia Richard and Clémence Vieira/Aline Chamereau, to compete in Espinho this week.
The top team in the Spanish roster, 2023 EuroBeachVolley silver medalists Daniela Álvarez and Tania Moreno also competed in the French capital last summer. This week, they will join forces with Sofía González and Ana Vergara in the Beach Nations Cup Finals.
The same happens in the Lithuanian team, which has Paris Olympians Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte playing alongside Ariana Rudkoviskaja and Skalve Krizanauskaite in the event.
Defending champions the Netherlands have the 11th and last Olympian in the field, defender Raisa Schoon, who was at both the Tokyo 2020 and the Paris 2024 Games. She will be paired with Mila Konink and the two will get to compete alongside Emi van Driel and Wies Bekhuis, who were both part of the Dutch squad that won gold in the Beach Nations Cup 2024.
Hosts Portugal will count on the teams of Gabriela Coelho/Mariana Maia and Vanessa Paquete/Beatriz Lacerda to represent the host country well in front of their home fans.
A rising force on the continent, Ukraine will be represented by two teams that have produced solid results at the international level this season in Anhelina Khmil/Valentyna Davidova and Maryna Hladun/Tetiana Lazarenko.
Completing the list of contenders this week in Espinho is Estonia, which caused an upset in the Preliminary Phase, qualifying over Poland. The Estonian teams in the Finals will be Heleene Hollas/Keira Lukas and Eva Kuivonen/Liisa-Lotta Jürgenson.
Pool play for the women will go from Thursday to Friday, when the quarterfinals will also be held in Espinho. The semifinals are scheduled for Saturday and the gold medal match will take place on Sunday.