Flawless Dutch prevail at home on Nations Cup Pool C

Hosts the Netherlands gave no chance to the competition and dominated the Pool C of the Preliminary Phase of the 2023 CEV Beach Volleyball Nations Cup, becoming the first country to advance to the women's Finals of the event, which will be held later this year.

Playing in front of their home fans at the Sportpark Orderbos in Apeldoorn, the Dutch duos of Raïsa Schoon/Katja Stam and Emi van Driel/Brecht Piersma were flawless, overcoming the national teams of Cyprus, Estonia, Northern Ireland and Slovenia.

The Dutch duos won all three encounters they were involved with, securing straight-set victories in all six matches against Cyprus, Estonia and Slovenia, besides limiting their opponents to less than ten points in six of the 12 sets played.

The Dutch strength was very evident in the final of the event, with a pair of emphatic sweeps over Slovenia – Schoon and Stam topped Anja Maček and Tajda Lovsin 2-0 (21-15, 21-9) while van Driel and Piersma defeated Živa Javornik and Maja Marolt also in two sets (21-7, 21-17).

Pool C was the first for the women to be completed, which makes of the Netherlands the first country to secure a spot in the 2023 Nations Cup Finals – the other six pool winners and the host country will also play for the title. The next one to take place will be Pool F, which will reunite Belgium, Czechia, Poland and hosts Scotland in Ayr, from May 20-21.

The Nations Cup has a different competition format, promoting ‘country vs. country’ battles. Each nation is represented by two teams and the duels take place in a best-of-three format, with the decider, if needed, being a 15-point golden set.

Created in 2022, the Nations Cup brings added weight in 2023 and 2024, serving as the European pathway in the qualification system for the beach volleyball tournament of the Paris 2024 Olympics – the countries that win the 2024 Finals among the men and the women will each earn a spot in the Games.