Vienna, Austria. The Austrian Volleyball Federation (ÖVV) have nominated their teams for the upcoming CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup. Katharina Schützenhöfer and Lena Plesiutschnig plus Teresa Strauss/Nadine Strauss will join the women’s competition in Baden from May 6 to 9, 2021 – with Martin Ermacora/Moritz Pristauz and Robin Seidl/Philipp Waller due to represent the home side in the men’s event. They will all be trying to secure a spot in the Continental Cup Finals scheduled for late June in The Hague (NED), where one team per gender will eventually secure participation in the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Robin Seidl and Philipp Waller are among the players due to represent Austria at the Continental Cup in Baden
“The responsible supervisors and the ÖVV Continental Cup Committee have carefully analysed and discussed the performance of our national team players – in training as well as in tournaments. Based on this, we made the decision about the team composition. We are going to the Continental Cup with the most formidable teams. They have done really well throughout the Olympic cycle. Therefore, we are confident about reaching the next round of the Olympic qualification.”
Florian Schabbauer
Beach Volleyball Coordinator of the ÖVV
Schützenhöfer/Plesiutschnig, Ermacora/Pristauz and Seidl/Waller are all currently in action in Cancun, Mexico, where three FIVB 4-Star World Tour events that are part of the Olympic qualification are taking place. The first tournament was very successful from an Austrian point of view: Ermacora / Pristauz moved from the qualification to the semi-finals and, after winning over four teams from the top 15 of the FIVB entry ranking, finished fourth. In the second tournament, Schützenhöfer/Plesiutschnig and Seidl/Waller will fight for top positions from Friday.
Teams from the following nations are due to compete in Baden:
Women: Austria, Italy, Germany, Slovakia, Norway, Latvia, Ukraine, Sweden
Men: Austria, Poland, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Serbia, Slovakia, France
The top five of each pool – there are three such pools in the second round – qualify for the CEV Beach Volleyball Continental Cup Final from June 23 to 26 in The Hague.
