Team Preview

Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
US$300,000 BPT Elite16 Gstaad
July 3 - 7, 2024

(9) 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 Gstaad Results

Year	Partner - Result	Partner - Result
2010	Did not play	Gianluca Casadei - 25th
2011	Did not play	Matteo Martino - 17th
2012	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 3rd
2013	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 9th
2014	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 17th
2015	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 5th
2016	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 9th
2017	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 17th
2018	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 3rd
2019	Did not play	Daniele Lupo - 4th
2021	Jakob Windisch - 33rd	Did not play
2022	Paolo Nicolai - 17th	Samuele Cottafava - 17th

Recent Results

Tour	Date	Tournament	Seed	Finish	Points	Money
FIVB	6/5-9/2024	Elite16 Ostrava	8	5th	760	US$8,000.00
FIVB	5/22-26/2024	BPT Elite16 Espinho	7	9th	600	US$6,000.00
FIVB	4/17-21/2024	Elite16 Tepic	6	13th	460	US$5,000.00
FIVB	3/5-9/2024	Elite16 Doha	4	5th	760	US$8,000.00
FIVB	12/6-9/2023	BPT Finals Doha 2023	8	5th	0	US$20,000.00
FIVB	11/22-26/2023	Elite16 Joao Pessoa	5	2nd	1100	US$20,000.00
FIVB	10/6-15/2023	Beach Volleyball World Championships	8	9th	800	US$11,000.00
FIVB	9/27-10/1/2023	Elite16 Paris	6	5th	760	US$8,000.00
FIVB	8/16-20/2023	Elite16 Hamburg	13, Q3	2nd	1100	US$20,000.00
FIVB	7/26-30/2023	Elite16 Montréal	Q8	17th	400	US$0.00
FIVB	7/20-23/2023	Challenge Edmonton	13	3rd	720	US$7,000.00
FIVB	7/13-16/2023	Challenge Portugal	7	9th	460	US$2,500.00

Elite16 Gstaad Matches

Date	Bracket	Opponent	Score	Time
Thu, 7/4/2024	Pool A	Esteban Grimalt / Marco Grimalt, Chile (8)	Won 18-21, 21-18, 15-11	0:49
Thu, 7/4/2024	Pool A	David Ahman / Jonatan Hellvig, Sweden (1)	Lost 20-22, 25-23, 12-15	0:54
Fri, 7/5/2024	Pool A	Leo Dillier / Adrian Heidrich, Switzerland (16, Q15)	Won 21-15, 22-20	0:38
Fri, 7/5/2024	Winner 1	Chase Budinger / Miles Evans, United States (7)	Won 21-14, 21-12	0:31
Sat, 7/6/2024	Winner 2	Michal Bryl / Bartosz Losiak, Poland (13, Q1)	Won 21-16, 18-21, 15-10	0:47
Sat, 7/6/2024	Semi-Finals	David Ahman / Jonatan Hellvig, Sweden (1)	Lost 21-19, 17-21, 10-15	0:45
Sun, 7/7/2024	Bronze Medal	Anders Mol / Christian Sorum, Norway (3)	Lost 22-20, 20-22, 26-28	1:09

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	13	0	2	1	0	3	0	5	0	2	0	0	$111,000.00	34	25	57.6 %
2024	FIVB	5	0	0	0	1	2	0	1	1	0	0	0	$37,000.00	11	11	50.0 %
Total	FIVB	30	1	3	3	1	8	0	9	2	3	0	0	$297,250.00	83	58	58.9 %

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
13	0	2	1	0	3	5	2	0	0	$55,500.00	2023	FIVB	13	0	2	1	0	3	5	2	0	0	$55,500.00
5	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	0	$18,500.00	2024	FIVB	5	0	0	0	1	2	2	0	0	0	$18,500.00
47	4	3	4	1	10	13	7	1	4	$155,850.00	Total	Total	150	6	13	13	5	31	40	29	9	4	$693,787.50

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%
2023-2024	33	64.7%	10	19.6%	8	15.7%	43-8	84.3%	7	16.3%	9	20.9%	27	62.8%	7-36	16.3%	33-27	55.0%	17-17	50.0%	1	3	51-47	52.0%
Against the Field	13	48.1%	5	18.5%	9	33.3%	18-9	66.7%	7	17.9%	9	23.1%	23	59.0%	7-32	17.9%	26-40	39.4%	24-36	40.0%	0	3	25-41	37.9%

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 trail the series against the field 23-33 (Lead 6 Series, Trail 6 Series, 1 Series Tied)

Date	Tour	Tournament	Round	Winning Team	Seed	Losing Team	Seed	Score	Time
Trail the series against # 1 Ahman/Hellvig, Sweden 1-5
7/6/24	FIVB	Elite16 Gstaad	Semi-Finals	Ahman/Hellvig	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	19-21, 21-17, 15-10	0:45
7/4/24	FIVB	Elite16 Gstaad	Pool A	Ahman/Hellvig	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	22-20, 23-25, 15-12	0:54
11/26/23	FIVB	Elite16 Joao Pessoa	Gold Medal	Ahman/Hellvig	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	5	21-11, 21-18	0:32
8/20/23	FIVB	Elite16 Hamburg	Gold Medal	Ahman/Hellvig	5	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	21-16, 22-24, 21-19	1:00
8/17/23	FIVB	Elite16 Hamburg	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	Ahman/Hellvig	5	21-18, 16-21, 15-13	0:45
2/3/23	FIVB	Doha Elite16	Pool A	Ahman/Hellvig	8	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-19, 21-9	0:28
Trail the series against # 2 Loyola/Wanderley, Brazil 1-6
12/8/23	FIVB	BPT Finals Doha 2023	Winner 1	Loyola/Wanderley	9	Cottafava/Nicolai	8	21-18, 21-19	0:36
9/29/23	FIVB	Elite16 Paris	Pool C	Loyola/Wanderley	3	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	21-19, 15-21, 15-10	0:49
8/11/22	FIVB	Hamburg Elite 16	Pool B	Loyola/Wanderley	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	22-20, 21-16	0:40
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 # 3 Mol/Sorum, Norway 1-8
7/7/24	FIVB	Elite16 Gstaad	Bronze Medal	Mol/Sorum	3	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	20-22, 22-20, 28-26	1:09
10/12/23	FIVB	Beach Volleyball World Championships	Winner 2	Mol/Sorum	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	8	21-19, 21-17	0:39
8/20/23	FIVB	Elite16 Hamburg	Semi-Finals	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	Mol/Sorum	1	25-23, 19-21, 15-13	0:57
4/27/23	FIVB	Elite16 Uberlândia	Pool A	Mol/Sorum	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-19, 21-15	0:33
3/23/23	FIVB	Elite16 Tepic	Pool A	Mol/Sorum	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-19, 21-13	0:31
2/2/23	FIVB	Doha Elite16	Pool A	Mol/Sorum	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	21-15, 19-21, 15-12	0:47
1/29/23	FIVB	Beach Pro Tour Finals	Semi-Finals	Mol/Sorum	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	21-15, 14-21, 15-10	0:58
1/28/23	FIVB	Beach Pro Tour Finals	Pool B	Mol/Sorum	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	23-25, 21-16, 15-12	0:53
3/25/22	FIVB	Rosarito Elite 16	Pool B	Mol/Sorum	2	Cottafava/Nicolai	15, Q7	20-22, 27-25, 15-7	0:54
Trail the series against # 4 Ehlers/Wickler, Germany 1-2
3/8/24	FIVB	Elite16 Doha	Winner 2	Ehlers/Wickler	8	Cottafava/Nicolai	4	21-18, 21-19	0:36
8/18/23	FIVB	Elite16 Hamburg	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	Ehlers/Wickler	4	27-25, 21-19	0:42
4/29/23	FIVB	Elite16 Uberlândia	Winner 1	Ehlers/Wickler	6	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	24-22, 21-17	0:37
Trail the series against # 5 Goncalves/Lanci, Brazil 0-2
11/23/23	FIVB	Elite16 Joao Pessoa	Pool D	Goncalves/Lanci	4	Cottafava/Nicolai	5	23-21, 24-22	0:44
5/31/23	FIVB	Elite16 Ostrava	Qualifier 2	Goncalves/Lanci	15, Q10	Cottafava/Nicolai	Q2	21-19, 14-21, 15-12	0:49
Lead the series against # 6 Benesh/Partain, United States 2-1
6/8/24	FIVB	Elite16 Ostrava	Winner 2	Benesh/Partain	10	Cottafava/Nicolai	8	21-16, 17-21, 15-11	0:47
12/8/23	FIVB	BPT Finals Doha 2023	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	8	Benesh/Partain	5	21-17, 21-14	0:33
9/30/23	FIVB	Elite16 Paris	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	Benesh/Partain	1	21-17, 21-16	0:35
Lead the series against # 7 Budinger/Evans, United States 3-0
7/5/24	FIVB	Elite16 Gstaad	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Budinger/Evans	7	21-14, 21-12	0:31
3/7/24	FIVB	Elite16 Doha	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	4	Budinger/Evans	13, Q3	21-19, 21-19	0:38
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 # 8 Grimalt/Grimalt, Chile 3-0
7/4/24	FIVB	Elite16 Gstaad	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Grimalt/Grimalt	8	18-21, 21-18, 15-11	0:49
10/2/22	FIVB	Paris Elite 16	Bronze Medal	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	Grimalt/Grimalt	7	21-16, 21-16	0:38
5/7/22	FIVB	Doha Challenge	Winner 2	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Grimalt/Grimalt	15, Q2	21-14, 21-18	0:35
Lead the series against # 10 Tijan/Younousse, Qatar 4-3
5/24/24	FIVB	BPT Elite16 Espinho	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	Tijan/Younousse	10	21-19, 19-21, 15-8	0:52
3/6/24	FIVB	Elite16 Doha	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	4	Tijan/Younousse	12	17-21, 21-17, 15-8	0:48
12/6/23	FIVB	BPT Finals Doha 2023	Pool A	Tijan/Younousse	1	Cottafava/Nicolai	8	21-19, 21-19	0:38
11/23/23	FIVB	Elite16 Joao Pessoa	Pool D	Tijan/Younousse	13, Q1	Cottafava/Nicolai	5	21-13, 16-21, 15-13	0:52
3/24/23	FIVB	Elite16 Tepic	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Tijan/Younousse	8	21-18, 21-12	0:31
9/30/22	FIVB	Paris Elite 16	Pool C	Tijan/Younousse	6	Cottafava/Nicolai	3	21-18, 26-24	0:42
6/5/22	FIVB	Jurmala Elite 16	Gold Medal	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q1	Tijan/Younousse	1	16-21, 27-25, 15-12	0:56
Lead the series against # 11 Pfretzschner/Winter, Germany 1-0
7/22/23	FIVB	Challenge Edmonton	Winner 1	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	Pfretzschner/Winter	23, Q23	21-13, 21-18	0:38
Trail the series against # 13, Q1 Bryl/Losiak, Poland 3-4
7/6/24	FIVB	Elite16 Gstaad	Winner 2	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Bryl/Losiak	13, Q1	21-16, 18-21, 15-10	0:47
5/25/24	FIVB	BPT Elite16 Espinho	Winner 1	Bryl/Losiak	11	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	22-20, 21-15	0:40
3/6/24	FIVB	Elite16 Doha	Pool D	Cottafava/Nicolai	4	Bryl/Losiak	5	16-21, 21-19, 15-12	0:55
12/7/23	FIVB	BPT Finals Doha 2023	Pool A	Bryl/Losiak	10	Cottafava/Nicolai	8	12-21, 21-19, 15-13	0:48
8/11/22	FIVB	Hamburg Elite 16	Pool B	Cottafava/Nicolai	7	Bryl/Losiak	15, Q3	24-22, 21-18	0:38
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 # 14, Q3 Gavira/Herrera, Spain 2-2
4/18/24	FIVB	Elite16 Tepic	Pool C	Gavira/Herrera	14, Q2	Cottafava/Nicolai	6	18-21, 21-19, 15-12	0:49
10/9/23	FIVB	Beach Volleyball World Championships	Pool H	Gavira/Herrera	17	Cottafava/Nicolai	8	21-15, 21-18	0:38
8/19/23	FIVB	Elite16 Hamburg	Winner 2	Cottafava/Nicolai	13, Q3	Gavira/Herrera	15, Q9	16-21, 21-13, 15-10	0:43
7/21/23	FIVB	Challenge Edmonton	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	13	Gavira/Herrera	12	25-23, 19-21, 16-14	1:01
Lead the series against # 16, Q15 Dillier/Heidrich, Switzerland 1-0
7/5/24	FIVB	Elite16 Gstaad	Pool A	Cottafava/Nicolai	9	Dillier/Heidrich	16, Q15	21-15, 22-20	0:38