Team Preview

Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
US$1,000,000 Beach Volleyball World Championships
June 10 - 19, 2022

(14) Samuele Cottafava/Paolo Nicolai, Italy

Samuele Cottafava
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Nov 1, 1998 (27 yrs old)

Home Town:

Modena

Height:

193 cm (6'4")

Weight:

82 kg (180 lb)

Seasons:

Tournaments:

Career Wins:

Career Winnings:

US$186,031.39

Paolo Nicolai
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Aug 6, 1988 (37 yrs old)

Home Town:

Ortona

Height:

203 cm (6'8")

Weight:

91 kg (200 lb)

Seasons:

Tournaments:

154

Career Wins:

Career FIVB WT Wins:

Career Winnings:

US$705,037.50

Awards

Most Improved Player 2012
Best Offensive Player 2014
Best Blocker 2016

Team Career Summary

Tour	Played	1	2	3	4	5	7	9	13	17	25	Money
FIVB	34	1	3	3	2	8	0	11	3	3	0	US$319,750.00

Previous Rome Results

Year	Partner - Result	Partner - Result
2009	Did not play	Matteo Varnier - 5th
2010	Did not play	Matteo Varnier - 17th
2011	Did not play	Matteo Martino - 9th
2012	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 25th
2013	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 9th
2019	Jakob Windisch - 25th	Daniele Lupo - 17th

Recent Results

Tour	Date	Tournament	Seed	Finish	Points	Money
FIVB	6/1-5/2022	Jurmala Elite 16	13, Q1	1st	1200	US$30,000.00
FIVB	5/25-29/2022	Ostrava Elite 16	13, Q3	9th	600	US$6,000.00
FIVB	5/5-8/2022	Doha Challenge	9	2nd	760	US$8,000.00
FIVB	4/14-17/2022	Itapema Challenge	13	5th	600	US$3,750.00
FIVB	3/23-27/2022	Rosarito Elite 16	15, Q7	13th	460	US$5,000.00
FIVB	3/16-20/2022	Tlaxcala Challenge	14	9th	460	US$2,500.00

Beach Volleyball World Championships Matches

Date	Bracket	Opponent	Score	Time
Sat, 6/11/2022	Pool K	Johan Murray / Sneider Rivas, Colombia (35)	Won 21-12, 21-15	0:33
Sun, 6/12/2022	Pool K	Surin Jongklang / Banlue Nakprakhong, Thailand (38)	Won 21-10, 21-10	0:28
Mon, 6/13/2022	Pool K	Tri Bourne / Trevor Crabb, United States (11)	Won 21-11, 21-19	0:35
Wed, 6/15/2022	Winner 1	Jorge Alayo / Noslen Diaz, Cuba (39)	Won 21-18, 21-18	0:36
Thu, 6/16/2022	Winner 2	Vitor Felipe / Renato Lima, Brazil (12)	Lost 21-11, 19-21, 13-15	0:56

World Championships Results

Year	Event	Location	Partner - Result	Partner - Result
2009	World Championships	Stavanger	Did not play	Matteo Varnier - 17th
2011	World Championships	Rome	Did not play	Matteo Martino - 9th
2013	World Championships	Stare Jablonki	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 9th
2015	World Championships	The Hague	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 17th
2017	World Championships	Vienna	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 17th
2019	World Championships	Hamburg	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 5th
2022	World Championships	Rome	Paolo Nicolai - 9th	Samuele Cottafava - 9th
2023	World Championships	Tlaxcala	Paolo Nicolai - 9th	Samuele Cottafava - 9th

World Championships Results

Tour	Date	Tournament	Seed	Finish	Points	Money
FIVB	6/10-19/2022	Beach Volleyball World Championships	14	9th	800	US$11,000.00
FIVB	10/6-15/2023	Beach Volleyball World Championships	8	9th	800	US$11,000.00

Team Finishes By Tournament Type

Tournament Type	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-6th	7-8th	9-12th	13-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
Olympic Games	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	$0.00
World Championships	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	$22,000.00
World Tour Finals	3	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	$77,500.00
Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	22	1	2	1	2	6	0	4	3	3	0	0	$194,000.00
Challenge/Four Star/Open	6	0	1	1	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	$26,250.00
Total	34	1	3	3	2	8	0	11	3	3	0	0	$319,750.00

Individual Finishes by Tournament Type

Samuele Cottafava												Paolo Nicolai
Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Tournament Type	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$0.00	Olympic Games	4	0	1	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	$0.00
2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	$11,000.00	World Championships	8	0	0	0	0	1	4	3	0	0	$41,500.00
4	0	0	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	$40,750.00	World Tour Finals	8	0	0	2	1	3	1	1	0	0	$99,250.00
26	1	2	1	2	6	10	4	0	0	$103,750.00	Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	77	2	6	6	4	10	27	16	4	0	$423,700.00
18	0	1	1	1	2	4	4	1	0	$26,750.00	Challenge/Four Star/Open	50	2	4	4	1	15	10	8	5	0	$134,337.50
11	3	1	1	0	2	2	2	0	0	$2,575.00	Futures/Three Star/Two Star/One Star	3	0	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	$6,250.00
											U21 World Championships	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
											U18/19 World Championships	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
62	4	4	4	3	11	20	10	2	0	$184,825.00	Total	154	6	13	13	6	31	43	29	9	0	$705,037.50

Team Finishes by Season

			Results												Matches
Season	Assoc	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-6th	7-8th	9-12th	13-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Won	Lost	Pct
2022	FIVB	7	1	1	0	0	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	$66,250.00	24	12	66.7 %
Total	FIVB	7	1	1	0	0	1	0	3	1	0	0	0	$66,250.00	24	12	66.7 %

Individual Finishes by Season

Samuele Cottafava													Paolo Nicolai
Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Season	Association	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
											2006	FIVB Age Group WC	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$0.00
											2007	FIVB Age Group WC	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
											2008	FIVB	5	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	$7,550.00
											2008	FIVB Age Group WC	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$0.00
											2009	FIVB	6	0	0	0	0	1	2	2	1	0	$16,725.00
											2010	FIVB	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	2	0	$13,450.00
											2011	FIVB	12	0	0	0	0	3	3	2	1	3	$31,750.00
											2012	FIVB	9	0	1	1	1	1	2	2	1	0	$45,550.00
											2013	FIVB	12	0	1	3	0	0	7	1	0	0	$56,600.00
											2014	FIVB	9	2	1	0	1	0	3	2	0	0	$93,500.00
											2015	FIVB	11	0	0	1	0	3	5	1	1	0	$58,000.00
											2016	FIVB	10	1	3	0	0	2	1	2	1	0	$35,287.50
											2017	FIVB	9	0	2	3	0	1	0	3	0	0	$64,750.00
											2018	FIVB	8	0	1	1	0	2	2	2	0	0	$47,500.00
6	1	0	0	0	0	2	2	1	0	$2,675.00	2019	FIVB	9	0	0	0	1	6	1	1	0	0	$39,000.00
3	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	$800.00	2020	FIVB	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	$5,000.00
8	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	4	$3,750.00	2021	FIVB	7	0	0	0	1	4	2	0	0	0	$30,500.00
7	1	1	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	$33,125.00	2022	FIVB	7	1	1	0	0	1	4	0	0	0	$33,125.00
24	4	1	1	0	3	6	4	1	4	$40,350.00	Total	Total	127	6	11	10	4	24	33	26	9	4	$578,287.50

Team Match Records

	Won 1st Set								Lost 1st Set								2 Set Matches		3 Set Matches		By Forfeit		All Matches
Season	Won 2-0		Won 2-1		Lost 2-1		Overall		Won 2-1		Lost 2-1		Lost 2-0		Overall		Overall		Overall		Won	Lost	Overall
Overall	60	65.9%	14	15.4%	17	18.7%	74-17	81.3%	12	19.7%	12	19.7%	37	60.7%	12-49	19.7%	60-37	61.9%	26-29	47.3%	3	3	89-69	56.3%
2021-2022	27	67.5%	4	10.0%	9	22.5%	31-9	77.5%	5	27.8%	3	16.7%	10	55.6%	5-13	27.8%	27-10	73.0%	9-12	42.9%	2	0	38-22	63.3%
Against the Field	28	51.9%	11	20.4%	15	27.8%	39-15	72.2%	9	20.5%	7	15.9%	28	63.6%	9-35	20.5%	56-48	53.8%	40-44	47.6%	2	2	50-48	51.0%

Team Match Records by Round

	Country Quota		Qualifier		Pool Play		Lucky Loser		Elimination Rounds		Semi-Finals		Bronze Medal		Gold Medal		Overall
Tournament Type	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost
Olympic Games	0	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	2
World Championships	0	0	0	0	5	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	3
World Tour Finals	0	0	0	0	4	8	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	0	0	6	10
Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	0	0	10	2	32	27	0	0	10	10	3	3	1	2	1	2	57	46
Challenge/Four Star/Open	0	0	0	0	10	2	0	0	5	4	1	1	1	0	0	1	17	8
Total	0	0	10	2	53	39	0	0	18	18	4	5	3	2	1	3	89	69

Head to Head Results
Cottafava/Nicolai lead the series against the field 19-12 (Lead 14 Series, Trail 5 Series, 3 Series Tied)

Date	Tour	Tournament	Round	Winning Team	Seed	Losing Team	Seed	Score	Time
Trail the series against # 2 Bryl/Losiak, Poland 0-2
5/26/22	FIVB	Ostrava Elite 16	Pool D	Bryl/Losiak	5	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	21-13, 18-21, 23-21	0:56
5/8/22	FIVB	Doha Challenge	Gold Medal	Bryl/Losiak	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-18, 21-15	0:35
Series tied with # 3 Brouwer/Meeuwsen, Netherlands 1-1
3/24/22	FIVB	Rosarito Elite 16	Pool B	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	7	Cottafava/Nicolai	15, Q7	16-21, 21-11, 16-14	0:50
3/18/22	FIVB	Tlaxcala Challenge	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	Brouwer/Meeuwsen	2	21-19, 16-21, 15-9	0:46
Lead the series against # 4 Tijan/Younousse, Qatar 1-0
6/5/22	FIVB	Jurmala Elite 16	Gold Medal	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q1	Tijan/Younousse	1	16-21, 27-25, 15-12	0:56
Trail the series against # 5 Loyola/Wanderley, Brazil 1-3
6/4/22	FIVB	Jurmala Elite 16	Semi-Finals	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q1	Loyola/Wanderley	3	21-19, 22-20	0:40
5/27/22	FIVB	Ostrava Elite 16	Pool D	Loyola/Wanderley	4	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	21-16, 21-17	0:35
4/16/22	FIVB	Itapema Challenge	Winner 2	Loyola/Wanderley	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	21-19, 23-21	0:44
4/15/22	FIVB	Itapema Challenge	Pool A	Loyola/Wanderley	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	29-31, 21-18, 15-13	1:05
Trail the series against # 8 Mol/Sorum, Norway 0-1
3/25/22	FIVB	Rosarito Elite 16	Pool B	Mol/Sorum	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	15, Q7	20-22, 27-25, 15-7	0:54
Lead the series against # 9 Grimalt/Grimalt, Chile 1-0
5/7/22	FIVB	Doha Challenge	Winner 2	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Grimalt/Grimalt	15, Q2	21-14, 21-18	0:35
Series tied with # 11 Bourne/Crabb, United States 1-1
6/13/22	FIVB	Beach Volleyball World Championships	Pool K	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	Bourne/Crabb	11	21-11, 21-19	0:35
3/24/22	FIVB	Rosarito Elite 16	Pool B	Bourne/Crabb	10	Cottafava/Nicolai	15, Q7	24-22, 21-18	0:44
Trail the series against # 12 Felipe/Lima, Brazil 0-2
6/16/22	FIVB	Beach Volleyball World Championships	Winner 2	Felipe/Lima	12	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	11-21, 21-19, 15-13	0:56
5/6/22	FIVB	Doha Challenge	Pool D	Felipe/Lima	4	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	19-21, 25-23, 15-12	0:54
Trail the series against # 17 Aravena/Droguett, Chile 0-1
3/18/22	FIVB	Tlaxcala Challenge	Winner 1	Aravena/Droguett	21, Q13	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	21-17, 21-18	0:35
Lead the series against # 18 Ermacora/Pristauz, Austria 1-0
5/6/22	FIVB	Doha Challenge	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Ermacora/Pristauz	16	19-21, 21-16, 15-13	0:50
Lead the series against # 19 Brunner/Schalk, United States 2-0
6/4/22	FIVB	Jurmala Elite 16	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q1	Brunner/Schalk	7	21-14, 21-18	0:32
3/17/22	FIVB	Tlaxcala Challenge	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	Brunner/Schalk	11	24-22, 21-16	0:39
Lead the series against # 20 Samoilovs/Smedins, Latvia 1-0
6/3/22	FIVB	Jurmala Elite 16	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q1	Samoilovs/Smedins	12	23-21, 14-21, 17-15	0:54
Lead the series against # 21 Gauthier-Rat/Krou, France 1-0
5/7/22	FIVB	Doha Challenge	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Gauthier-Rat/Krou	17, Q3	30-32, 21-16, 15-9	0:56
Lead the series against # 22 Nolvak/Tiisaar, Estonia 1-0
4/15/22	FIVB	Itapema Challenge	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	Nolvak/Tiisaar	12	21-15, 21-18	0:32
Lead the series against # 23 Lupo/Ranghieri, Italy 1-0
6/3/22	FIVB	Jurmala Elite 16	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q1	Lupo/Ranghieri	4	21-17, 21-18	0:37
Lead the series against # 27 Sarabia/Virgen, Mexico 1-0
5/25/22	FIVB	Ostrava Elite 16	Qualifier 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	Sarabia/Virgen	Q14	21-18, 21-11	0:30
Lead the series against # 29 Dressler/Huber, Austria 1-0
3/23/22	FIVB	Rosarito Elite 16	Qualifier 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	15, Q7	Dressler/Huber	Q10	21-16, 21-13	0:37
Lead the series against # 33 Kantor/Rudol, Poland 1-0
6/1/22	FIVB	Jurmala Elite 16	Qualifier 2	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q1	Kantor/Rudol	Q8	26-28, 21-17, 15-11	0:56
Lead the series against # 35 Murray/Rivas, Colombia 1-0
6/11/22	FIVB	Beach Volleyball World Championships	Pool K	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	Murray/Rivas	35	21-12, 21-15	0:33
Lead the series against # 38 Jongklang/Nakprakhong, Thailand 1-0
6/12/22	FIVB	Beach Volleyball World Championships	Pool K	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	Jongklang/Nakprakhong	38	21-10, 21-10	0:28
Lead the series against # 39 Alayo/Diaz, Cuba 1-0
6/15/22	FIVB	Beach Volleyball World Championships	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	14	Alayo/Diaz	39	21-18, 21-18	0:36
Series tied with # 47 van de Velde/Varenhorst, Netherlands 1-1
6/2/22	FIVB	Jurmala Elite 16	Pool D	Varenhorst/van de Velde	5	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q1	18-21, 21-17, 15-11	0:42
4/16/22	FIVB	Itapema Challenge	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	Varenhorst/van de Velde	7	21-17, 19-21, 15-13	0:47