The 2025 FIVB Women Beach Volleyball World Championship

Women's beach volleyball is a globally popular team sport played on a sand court divided by a net. While it originated in Southern California, USA, the sport has expanded internationally and is actively played in powerhouse nations like Brazil, the United States, Latvia, Germany, Australia, and Canada.

Basic Contents & Rules

• Number of Players: There are strictly 2 players in each team on the court. Unlike indoor volleyball, substitutions are not permitted; the two players must play the entire match without any bench reserves.
• The Court: Played on a rectangular sand court measuring 16 x 8 metres, split evenly by a net. The net height for the women's division is strictly set at 2.24 metres.
• Scoring System: Matches are decided using a best-of-three sets format. The first two sets are played to 21 points, and a deciding third set (if necessary) is played to 15 points. A team must win a set by a clear 2-point margin.
• Gameplay: Players use their hands, arms, or any part of the body to hit the ball over the net. A team is allowed a maximum of three touches to return the ball, and consecutive contacts by the same player are illegal (except after a block).

 Recent Champion Trophies & Match-ups

Because beach volleyball operates primarily on an open international circuit, traditional "two-country dual test series" are rare. Instead, countries clash directly through major international tournaments representing their home nations:

 1. The FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship

The premier world event concluded its major tournament with a historic face-off between two dominant nations:-

• The Final Match-up: Latvia vs. United States
• Who Won: Latvia won their historic first-ever world title in a thrilling three-set gold medal showdown
• Winning Players (Latvia):- Tīna Graudiņa and Anastasija Samoilova. They

defeated the American duo Kristen Nuss and Taryn Brasher.2. CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup

A strict country-vs-country tournament format where national teams go head-to-head:-

• The Final Match-up: Ukraine vs. Italy
• Who Won: Ukraine triumphed over Italy in a tense golden-set final to claim the
• CEV Nations Cup Trophy.
• Winning Players (Ukraine): Led by the stellar duos of Anhelina Khmil &
• Valentyna Davidova and Diana Lunina & Tetiana Lazarenko.

 

3. International Women's Beach Volleyball Tournament

A prominent regional multi-nation event hosted in Lam Dong province:-

• The Final Match-up: Vietnam vs. Thailand
• Who Won: Vietnam 1 secured the international gold on home soil by edging out Thailand 1 in a closely contested final.
• Winning Players (Vietnam): The leading national team pairing of Nguyen Le Tuan Vy and Nguyen Thi Thanh Tram swept the local accolades.

 

Tina & Anastasija write history as the 2025 women’s world champions

The Latvians beat Nuss & Brasher in three to claim their country’s first world title

Latvia’s Tina Graudina & Anastasija Samoilova triumphed as the new women’s world champions in beach volleyball. On Sunday evening, they defeated USA’s Kristen Nuss & Taryn Brasher in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship gold medal showdown in Australia after a three-set battle. It was not only Latvia’s first-ever World Championship title, but also the central European country’s first-ever World Championship podium in either gender. Nuss & Brasher’s silver was their second medal in the competition, after the 2023 bronze they earned in Mexico. It was also USA’s 14^th medal in the history of the women’s World Championships. Earlier on Sunday, Brazil’s Carol Solberg & Rebecca Cavalcanti claimed the Adelaide 2025 women’s bronze.

 

The 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World

Championships Adelaide 2025 medalists

• Watch FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championship replays on

Fifth-seeded Tina & Anastasija went through the entire tournament dropping only a set in eight matches played in Australia, the second set in the  gold medal showdown against third-seeded Nuss & Brasher.

The two-time Latvian Olympians recovered from an early 3-1 deficit with five points in a row to break away with a 6-3 lead and never let go through the end of the first set. With one of their four aces in the set, 27-year-old blocker Tina brought in set point at 20-14, which 28-year-old defender Anastasija converted to a 21-15 win with an elegant cross-court kill. Latvia’s serving was not working quite as well in the second set. Nuss & Brasher capitalized on the many unforced opponent errors to stay in control for the most part of the set until Nuss levelled the match score with a clever cut shot for 21-15. Anastasija’s perfect reception sets and Tina’s unstoppable kills on two made the difference in the tie-breaker. The Americans tried to react with the same and did so successfully, but the Latvians were simply more consistent on the court on the way to a 15-11 close, shaped up with an off-the-block shot by Anastasija for the championship winner.

With three aces under her belt, Anastasija emerged as the best scorer of the final with a total of 26 points. Tina chipped in with another 21 points, including two aces and a kill block. Brasher also finished with 21 points. Her tally featured three blocks and an ace. Valiant defender Nuss added 13 points for the US team.

“I can’t believe it!” an emotional Tina told VBTV right after the final. “The game was so close. We constantly lost to them all the times that we had played.

But today everything happened as we wanted. It’s amazing!”

“Big, big thank you to my partner Tina, to the entire team here and in Latvia and, of course, to our Latvian fans cheering for us. We are just so grateful for this journey, for this victory here... It’s just amazing! We are the luckiest and the happiest persons in the world right now,” Anastasija added.