Semifinal lineup finalized in Nuvali Challenge

Ukrainian tandem Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil overcame a fierce second-set challenge to defeat Australia’s Olympian pair Taliqua Clancy and Stefanie Fejes, 21-13, 24-22, and secure a semifinal berth in the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Nuvali Challenge on Saturday at the Nuvali Sands Courts.

Davidova and Khmil controlled the opening set before surviving a determined fightback from Clancy — making her first appearance in this year’s Beach Pro Tour — and Fejes in a tightly contested second frame.

The ninth-seeded Ukrainians held the upper hand early in the second set, but Clancy, a silver medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, sparked a 5-1 run that erased a 13-16 deficit and gave the 15th-seeded Australians an 18-17 lead.

Both teams exchanged momentum in a tense finish, and a double contact violation on Khmil handed Australia a 20-19 set point advantage.

Khmil quickly recovered by scoring consecutive points to push Ukraine ahead, 21-20, but Clancy and Fejes responded by saving two match points to extend the dramatic rally.

With the set hanging in the balance, Khmil delivered a perfectly placed drop shot to create another opportunity before Fejes misjudged the next attack, which sailed out to clinch the match and send the Ukrainians into the semifinals.

“It was a tough battle on both sides. We knew the level of Steffi and Taliqua,” said Khmil, a two-time Beach Pro Tour gold medalist who finished with 24 points.

“They’re excellent players, and we expected a difficult match. But we played really well, enjoyed ourselves, and we’re very happy to come away with the win,” she added.

Davidova and Khmil will next face Team USA’s 10th-seeded pair Madelynn Anderson and Alaina Chacon, who earlier defeated Brazil’s Andressa Ramalho and Taina Bigi, 21-16, 21-19, in Sunday’s semifinal scheduled at 8 a.m.

In the other women’s semifinal, top-seeded Lithuanian duo Monika Paulikiene and Aine Raupelyte will clash with Dutch pair Emi van Driel and Mila Konink, also at 8 a.m.

Paulikiene and Raupelyte cruised past Ukraine’s Tetiana Lazerenko and Sofiia Kurnikova, 21-7, 21-17, to advance comfortably into the final four.

Van Driel and Konink likewise dominated their quarterfinal match, sweeping fellow Dutch players Nigella Negenman and Floor Hogenhout, 21-9, 21-14, to complete the semifinal cast.

In the men’s division, fifth-seeded Swiss duo Julian Friedli and Jonathan Jordan will battle Australia’s Thomas Hodges and Ben Hood, while fellow Swiss pair Adrian Heidrich and Yves Haussener face Germany’s Philipp Huster and Sven Winter in the semifinals, both scheduled at 9 a.m.

Friedli and Jordan survived a marathon quarterfinal, edging Austria’s Paul Pascariuc and Alexander Horst, 17-21, 28-26, 18-16, while Hodges and Hood swept Latvia’s Ardis Bedritis and Arturs Rinkevics, 21-18, 21-11.

Heidrich and Haussener pulled off the biggest upset of the round after stunning top-seeded Israelis Eylon Elazar and Kevin Cuzmiciov, 21-18, 21-13, while Huster and Winter advanced by rallying past fellow Germans Maximilian Just and Lui Wust, 18-21, 21-16, 15-10.