SANTA ROSA, Laguna — Team USA’s Alexis Durish and Audrey Koenig led the teams that advanced to the Round of 16 in the women’s division of the World Beach Pro Tour Nuvali Challenge after a dominant win over Ukraine on Friday night at the Nuvali Sands Courts here.
Durish and Koenig, who have won three of their four appearances in the Beach Pro Tour, secured a 21-17, 21-19 victory over Inna Makhno and Iryna Makhno to book their spot in the next round of the tournament organized by the Philippine National Volleyball Federation (PNVF) and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) under the leadership of chairman Patrick Gregorio.
Holding an 18-13 lead in the second set, the Americans refused to blink under pressure as Inna Makhno answered with a clever push and Durish committed an uncharacteristic attack error that trimmed the gap to just three.
The momentum briefly shifted as the Makhno sisters kept pressing, trading heavy hits with the Americans in a tense back-and-forth exchange. But when it mattered most, Durish steadied herself and delivered the decisive attack to seal the victory.
“Today we just really focused on our passes, and yesterday wasn’t our best. We’re just really trying to learn from that incident, and we executed pretty well,” said Durish, after they suffered a 17-21, 19-21 defeat to Yeva Serdiuk and Daria Romaniuk — only their second loss in their Beach Pro Tour career — to finish Pool D in second place with a 1-1 record last Thursday.
“We just try to take it one game at a time and not worry about the past. Every team here is tough, and we’re just blessed to be able to compete with them,” Durish added.
The American duo, which captured gold medals in the 2025 Geneva Futures, 2026 Bhubaneswar Challenge, and 2026 Xiamen Challenge, along with a bronze in the 2025 Montpellier Futures, is now looking to extend its impressive run as they set their sights on the Nuvali Challenge and aims to add another title to its decorated Beach Pro Tour campaign.
Durish and Koenig, who now hold an impressive 25–2 record on the Beach Pro Tour, will once again face Ukrainian opposition for the third consecutive time in this tournament supported by the Philippine Olympic Committee, Rebisco, Akari, Ayala Land, and PLDT, when they take on Valentyna Davidova and Anhelina Khmil, who topped Pool H, in the Round of 16 at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Molly McBain and Ruby Sorra of Canada; Heleene Hollas and Liisa Remmelg of Estonia; and Madelyne Anderson and Alaina Chacon of Team USA also secured victories to punch their tickets to the Round of 16 of the tournament hosted by the City of Santa Rosa and supported by Medical City South Luzon and Jersey Haven.
Completing the Round of 16 cast, where they will face the top-ranked teams from modified pool play, are Lilla Villám and Stefánia Kun of Hungary; Lezana Placette and Alexia Richard of France; Tetiana Lazarenko and Sofiia Kurnikova of Ukraine; and Nigella Negenman and Floor Hogenhout of the Netherlands.
