Brazilians win gold, Canadians settle for the silver medal
 

NANJING, China, August 26, 2014 - Ana Patricia Silva and Eduarda Lisboa overcame a four-point deficit in the third and deciding set here Tuesday evening to capture the women’s Beach Volleyball gold medal at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympics Games over the McNamara twins of Canada.

After losing the first set 21-17 to Megan and Nicole McNamara, Ana Patricia and Eduarda stormed back to win the second set 21-13 over the Canadians.  With the Canadian twins controlling the action to start the third set, the McNamaras grabbed an 8-4 lead.  A 5-1 run by the Brazilians tied the set at 9-all as the two teams competed until the end with Ana Patricia and Eduarda prevailing 16-14 in the 42-minute match. 

“We struggled in the first set, and they beat us pretty easily,” said the 16-year Eduarda, who captured the FIVB under-19 world championship earlier this month in Portugal with Andressa Cavalcanti.  “We had a great comeback to win the second and three sets. 

We will celebrate tonight and then go home and celebrate with our families.  This is an unbelievable feeling.” 

For the Ana Patricia, the tallest women’s Beach Volleyball player in the Youth Olympic Games at 193 cm (6’4”), she had “no words to describe how happy we are.  We did our best and we brought home the gold.” 

Both teams entered the gold medal match after winning afternoon semi-final affairs with the Canadians defeating Lisa Arnholdt and Sarah Schneider of Germany 2-0 (21-18 and 21-18) in 33 minutes before Ana Patricia and Eduarda downed Nadezda Makroguzova and Daria Rudykh of Russia 2-0 (21-18 and 21-19) in 38 minutes. 

“We are still very happy,” said Megan McNamara, who is 19 minutes older than her sister.  “They are a very good team.  Our goal was to win a medal, and it’s amazing we were able to do that.  We are happy to be here.”  Sister Nicole echoed the same and said “it was an awesome experience to be here, and the medal makes it even better. Our hard work paid off.”

In the bronze medal match, Arnholdt and Schneider scored a 2-0 (21-14 and 27-25) win in 37 minutes over Makroguzova and Rudykh.