CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - This past March, freshman beach volleyball player
Giuliana Poletti Corrales looked to continue to build upon her impressive resume in the sands, as she was set to participate in the South American Championships and the Continental Cup, both which served as Olympic Qualifiers for the 2020 summer games in Tokyo, Japan.
"Giuliana came to me early spring 2020 and said she was being called home to represent Paraguay in an Olympic Qualifier," said head beach volleyball coach
Gayle Stammer. "While I would lose her mid-season for two weeks, the timing fortunately worked. I could not say no and the reward outweighed the risk by a million."
Prior to the scheduled start date for both tournaments, Poletti Corrales arrived a few days before to practice with the Paraguayan National Team. She was set to play as the No. 2 pairing for her country in the South American Championships, which were to be held in Lima, Peru March 13th-15th. The groups for the competition included both the No. 1 and No. 2 parings of Paraguay and Argentina. With this layout, Poletti Corrales would compete against the No. 1 pairing of Argentina.
The second tournament was the Continental Cup, a competition with different phases that would give the winning team a single quota for the Olympic Games. Unfortunately, the competition was postponed by the South American Confederations of Volleyball due to COVID-19. However, Giuliana was able to compete in one qualifier, which no doubt provided invaluable experience.
Poletti Corrales is no stranger to international competition, as she was a three time beach volleyball national champion from 2017-19. She posted multiple Top-10 finishes including; two 2nd place finishes at the U19 South American Tour (2018 and 2019), a 3rd place finish at the U19 World Beach Volleyball School Championship in 2017, a 5th place finish at the ODESUR Youth games in 2017 and a 9th place finish at the 2017 U21 World Beach Volleyball Championship.
Back on the Island, Poletti Corrales competed in eight matches in a shortened 2020 spring season, finishing with a 6-2 overall record including 2-0 at No. 2 and 4-2 at No. 3. The highlight of her freshman season was clinching the team win over No. 20 Tulane as the No. 3 paring along with teammate
Brooke Adkisson at the UNO Invitational on March 6.
"Giuliana had a great start to our season before the shut-down and I look forward to seeing what she can accomplish over the next 4 seasons!"
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