Andrea Lorenzova & Mariana Tomasova win gold at Spiez Futures, Spiez, Switzerland; third consecutive podium on Beach Pro Tour
Empowered Czechs Lorenzova & Tomasova make third consecutive podium, this time with gold at Spiez Futures – FIVB
Andrea Lorenzova & Mariana Tomasova (pictured in the main photo; source: cev.eu) from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment supported Czechia made it three medals in three appearances on the 2026 Beach Pro Tour, but this time they went all the way to the top of the podium, claiming gold at the women’s Spiez Futures. The previous two medals, earned in Apeldoorn and Cervia, were both silver. Austria’s Magdalena Rabitsch & Oleksandra Shkarupa, also benefitting from the program, earned bronze. USA’s Torrey Van Winden & Lindsey Sparks completed the podium in Switzerland with silver.
The Czech Volleyball Federation has been allocated USD 210,000 in FIVB Volleyball Empowerment coach support for their women’s beach volleyball teams and another USD 18,000 in national beach volleyball team coach development knowledge transfer programs. Their women’s pairs take advantage of Argentinean coach Sebastian Menegozzo’s expertise. Austria’s beach volleyball has so far been granted USD 168,000 in coach support from FIVB Volleyball Empowerment, in addition to USD 6,000 for a national beach volleyball team coach development knowledge transfer program. Brazilian coach Tie Santana is in charge of their women’s national duos.
Andrea Lorenzova and 20-year-old Mariana Tomasova, seeded second in Spiez, won all five of their matches, but in four of them, the victories came in tie-breaker third sets. In the semifinals, the Czech pair won their only straight-setter of the tournament, 2-0 (21-11, 21-19) against ninth-seeded Austria’s Magdalena Rabitsch & Oleksandra Shkarupa, and followed up with a nail-biting 2-1 (21-13, 15-21, 17-15) win over third-seeded Americans Torrey Van Winden & Lindsey Sparks.
18-year-old Austrian Oleksandra Shkarupa decorated her Beach Pro Tour debut with a bronze medal. In the third-place playoff, she and her 22-year-old partner Magdalena Rabitsch battled it out for a 2-0 (22-20, 21-18) victory to get back at top-seeded Muriel Bossart & Linda Abbuhl of Switzerland for the loss they suffered in pool play.
The Spiez silver was the second back-to-back medal for Van Winden & Sparks. At their first Beach Pro Tour appearance together the previous week at the Sveti Vlas Futures, they also registered a runner-up finish. They reached the final in Switzerland on a run of four straight-set victories crowned with a 2-0 (21-16, 21-19) upset of Bossart & Abbuhl in their semifinal.
24 women’s duos from 12 different countries took part in the Spiez Futures.
The next three Futures stops on the Beach Pro Tour will be held in Ios, Greece, in Geneva, Switzerland (women only), and in Karpacz, Poland (men only) from June 18 to 21.
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