Spain’s Daniela Álvarez Mendoza and Tania Moreno Matveeva will hope to continue their mercurial rise when the 2025 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Championships serve off in Adelaide, Australia, from 14–23 November 2025. The prestigious tournament will take place at The Drive and Pinky Flat/Tarntanya Wama, in the heart of the South Australian capital.
At just 23 years old, Dani & Tania have already carved out an impressive résumé. Partners since their teenage years, the duo has claimed bronze at the 2018 FIVB World Under-19 Championship, gold at the 2022 European Under-22 Championship, and silver at the 2023 European Championship.
Their momentum carried them to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where they reached the quarterfinals on their first ever appearance before bowing out to eventual silver medalists Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson of Canada in straight sets. Earlier in 2025, they narrowly missed a podium finish at the European Championship, finishing fourth after an impressive semifinal run.
Spain’s Daniela Álvarez Mendoza (left) and Tania Moreno Matveeva have played together since 2018.
Leading the Spanish women’s campaign is Brazilian coach Marco Pires Albuquerque Stanzani, who is in charge as part of a three-year, 252,000 USD Coach Support project under the FIVB Volleyball Empowerment Programme. The initiative aims to strengthen Spain’s competitive edge on the international stage and nurture a new generation of world-class athletes. As they prepare for their second appearance at the FIVB World Championships, following their debut in Mexico in 2023 where they exited in the Round of 32, Dani & Tania are determined to take the next step.
They have been drawn into Pool G, where they will face Lithuania’s Monika Paulikiene & Aine Raupelyte on 14 November, then Australia’s Jasmine Fleming & Stefanie Fejes on 15 November and finally seventh seeds Molly Shaw & Kelly Cheng of USA on 16 November. The Americans, led by Cheng—an Olympic champion—are the pool favorites, but the Spaniards’ chemistry and consistency makes them formidable opponents.
Spain’s Daniela Álvarez Mendoza in action during the 2025 Beach Pro Tour Elite16 stop in Gstaad.
In each gender, the 48 participating teams are split into 12 single round-robin pools of four. The pool winners, the pool runners-up and the best four of the third-placed teams (first ranked by match points, then by set ratio, then by rally point ratio and lastly by the tournament seeding established at the general technical meeting), advance straight to the sixteenthfinals. The remaining eight third-placed teams in the pools advance to the first knockout round, dubbed “the lucky loser round”. The single elimination phase starts with the four matches of “the lucky loser round” and the four winning teams advance to the sixteenthfinals.
For Spain, the goal is clear: progress beyond their 2023 result and prove they can challenge the sport’s big names. Coach Stanzani’s guidance has brought a new tactical approach to the team, emphasizing defensive discipline and composure in service-reception—keys to navigating the tricky knockout rounds. A deep run in Adelaide would not only boost their world ranking but also confirm Dani & Tania’s status as one of Europe’s brightest young pairs.
Spain’s Tania Moreno Matveeva celebrates a point during the 2025 Beach Pro Tour Elite16 stop in Gstaad.
While medaling in Adelaide is not a far-fetched target, this year’s World Championship is also part of a longer-term plan—to provide vital exposure and experience for Dani & Tania as they build towards the Olympic Games Los Angeles 2028. With solid support from Volleyball Empowerment and a tactical genius in Stanzani leading the way, Spain’s next chapter of beach volleyball could easily be one for the record books.
