Team Preview

Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
US$150,000 BPT Challenge Portugal
July 13 - 16, 2023

(7) 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 Espinho Results

Year	Partner - Result	Partner - Result
2019	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 5th

Recent Results

Tour	Date	Tournament	Seed	Finish	Points	Money
FIVB	6/15-18/2023	Challenge Jurmala	3	9th	460	US$2,500.00
FIVB	5/31-6/4/2023	Elite16 Ostrava	Q2	17th	400	US$0.00
FIVB	4/26-30/2023	Elite16 Uberlândia	9	9th	600	US$6,000.00
FIVB	3/22-26/2023	Elite16 Tepic	9	5th	760	US$8,000.00
FIVB	2/1-5/2023	Doha Elite16	9	9th	600	US$6,000.00
FIVB	1/26-29/2023	Beach Pro Tour Finals	6	3rd	0	US$50,000.00
FIVB	11/2-6/2022	Cape Town Elite 16	4	5th	760	US$8,000.00
FIVB	9/28-10/2/2022	Paris Elite 16	3	3rd	1000	US$14,000.00
FIVB	8/10-14/2022	Hamburg Elite 16	7	5th	760	US$8,000.00

Challenge Portugal Matches

Date	Bracket	Opponent	Score	Time
Fri, 7/14/2023	Pool F	Poravid Taovato / Pithak Tipjan, Thailand (18, Q4)	Won 21-12, 21-11	0:26
Fri, 7/14/2023	Pool F	Hugo Campos / Joao Pedrosa, Portugal (6)	Won 26-24, 21-16	0:40
Sat, 7/15/2023	Winner 1	Audrius Knasas / Patrikas Stankevicius, Lithuania (21, Q8)	Lost 12-21, 18-21	0:40

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	12	1	1	2	0	3	0	3	1	1	0	0	$149,250.00	38	22	63.3 %
2023	FIVB	6	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	0	1	0	0	$25,000.00	9	12	42.9 %
Total	FIVB	18	1	1	2	0	4	0	7	1	2	0	0	$174,250.00	47	34	58.0 %

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
12	1	1	2	0	3	4	1	0	0	$74,625.00	2022	FIVB	12	1	1	2	0	3	4	1	0	0	$74,625.00
6	0	0	0	0	1	4	1	0	0	$12,500.00	2023	FIVB	6	0	0	0	0	1	4	1	0	0	$12,500.00
35	4	1	3	0	6	10	6	1	4	$94,350.00	Total	Total	138	6	11	12	4	27	37	28	9	4	$632,287.50

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%
2022-2023	53	71.6%	9	12.2%	12	16.2%	62-12	83.8%	7	16.7%	9	21.4%	26	61.9%	7-35	16.7%	53-26	67.1%	16-21	43.2%	3	0	72-47	60.5%
Against the Field	22	73.3%	5	16.7%	3	10.0%	27-3	90.0%	3	21.4%	2	14.3%	9	64.3%	3-11	21.4%	44-18	71.0%	16-10	61.5%	0	0	30-14	68.2%

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 13-7 (Lead 10 Series, Trail 6 Series, 0 Series Tied)

Date	Tour	Tournament	Round	Winning Team	Seed	Losing Team	Seed	Score	Time
Trail the series against # 3 Felipe/Lima, Brazil 1-2
1/27/23	FIVB	Beach Pro Tour Finals	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	Felipe/Lima	9	21-14, 21-15	0:34
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
Lead the series against # 6 Campos/Pedrosa, Portugal 2-0
7/14/23	FIVB	Challenge Portugal	Pool F	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	Campos/Pedrosa	6	26-24, 21-16	0:40
6/16/23	FIVB	Challenge Jurmala	Pool C	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	Campos/Pedrosa	22	21-19, 29-27	0:41
Lead the series against # 8 Horl/Horst, Austria 1-0
5/31/23	FIVB	Elite16 Ostrava	Qualifier 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	Q2	Horl/Horst	Q15	21-16, 21-18	0:36
Trail the series against # 9 Goncalves/Lanci, Brazil 0-1
5/31/23	FIVB	Elite16 Ostrava	Qualifier 2	Goncalves/Lanci	15, Q10	Cottafava/Nicolai	Q2	21-19, 14-21, 15-12	0:49
Trail the series against # 14 Berntsen/Mol, Norway 0-1
7/6/22	FIVB	Gstaad Elite 16	Pool F	Berntsen/Mol	27	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	21-19, 21-13	0:32
Lead the series against # 16 Budinger/Evans, United States 1-0
6/16/23	FIVB	Challenge Jurmala	Pool C	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	Budinger/Evans	10	17-21, 21-17, 15-10	0:46
Lead the series against # 17 Nolvak/Tiisaar, Estonia 2-0
3/24/23	FIVB	Elite16 Tepic	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Nolvak/Tiisaar	11	21-11, 21-16	0:28
4/15/22	FIVB	Itapema Challenge	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	Nolvak/Tiisaar	12	21-15, 21-18	0:32
Lead the series against # 18, Q4 Taovato/Tipjan, Thailand 1-0
7/14/23	FIVB	Challenge Portugal	Pool F	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	Taovato/Tipjan	18, Q4	21-12, 21-11	0:26
Trail the series against # 20, Q7 Kantor/Zdybek, Poland 0-1
6/17/23	FIVB	Challenge Jurmala	Winner 1	Kantor/Zdybek	19, Q9	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	21-18, 21-17	0:34
Trail the series against # 21, Q8 Knasas/Stankevicius, Lithuania 0-1
7/15/23	FIVB	Challenge Portugal	Winner 1	Knasas/Stankevicius	21, Q8	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	21-12, 21-18	0:40
Lead the series against # 23 Canet/Rotar, France 1-0
11/4/22	FIVB	Cape Town Elite 16	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	4	Canet/Rotar	13, Q6	21-14, 21-16	0:29
Trail the series against # Q6 Lupo/Rossi, Italy 0-1
3/23/23	FIVB	Elite16 Tepic	Pool A	Lupo/Rossi	16, Q10	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-15, 21-19	0:39
Lead the series against # Q13 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 # Q15 Semerad/Sepka, Czech Republic 1-0
5/27/22	FIVB	Ostrava Elite 16	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	Semerad/Sepka	12	21-16, 21-17	0:34
Lead the series against # Q17 Dumek/Sedlak, Czech Republic 1-0
2/3/23	FIVB	Doha Elite16	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Dumek/Sedlak	16, Q10	21-11, 21-15	0:27
Lead the series against # Q25 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