PARIS, France – Qualifying for the largest multi-sports event in the world, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beach volleyball alum
Giuliana Poletti Corrales is heading to Paris to compete with the Paraguay Women's Beach Volleyball Team in the 2024 Olympic Games beginning July 27.
Poletti Corrales and her partner, Michelle Valiente, made history for their home country as Paraguay beach volleyball qualified for the Olympics for the first time. The Paraguayan team includes the pairing of Erika Bobadilla/Fiorella Quintana.
They filled one of the final five spots in the Olympic beach volleyball tournament, doing so in their country's capital, Asuncion, after winning the South American Continental Qualifier. They defeated Peru in the semifinals before taking down Argentina in the final to secure the Olympic berth.
It's been a historical year for the former Islander, winning her first-ever Beach Pro Tour medal after clinching silver at the Cervia Futures tournament. It came a week before celebrating her first-ever Beach Pro Tour gold after winning the Battipaglia Futures in Italy in May. Both came with her Olympics partner Valiente.
Poletti Corrales also made history as a four-year starter for the Islanders beach volleyball team under the direction of head coach
Gayle Stammer and assistant coach
Zane McFarlane before graduating from A&M-Corpus Christi in Spring 2023. She played at the No. 1 line her last three years, securing All-Southland Conference honors each season.
In 2022, she helped the Islanders win their first-ever conference championship to make the program's first appearance in the NCAA Tournament. She and her partner finished that season ranked No. 12 in the nation in the final PABLO Rankings. She notched ranked wins over No. 2 TCU, No. 4 Florida State, No. 6 LSU, and No. 17 Arizona and ended the season being nationally honored with an AVCA Top Flight Award, one of just 10 pairs in Division I to be honored at Flight One.
Her senior year in 2023 saw a pair of championships as she went undefeated in conference play to fuel the conference's first-ever beach volleyball regular season championship before delivering the clinching point in the SLC tournament to repeat that title and make back-to-back postseason appearances. Poletti-Corrales finished her career at A&M-Corpus Christi with 59 career wins which led the program's all-time record at the time.
Poletti Corrales is the second-ever Islander alum to become an Olympian. Leonardo Ledgister, a former Islanders track & field athlete, competed in the 2020 games for Jamaica in the 400m hurdles.
"We are so excited to watch Giuli play on the biggest stage in the Olympics!" said Stammer. "This is a dream come true for her and her dedication to the sport truly launched her into this moment. All of Corpus Christi will be cheering this Islander on and we wish her the best of luck! Go get yourself a medal, Giuli!"
The Paris 2024 beach volleyball competition will take place between July 27 and August 9 at the Eiffel Tower Stadium near the Champ de Mars beginning with pool play. The 24 pairs were split into six pools and Poletti Corrales/Valiente drew Pool D alongside pairs from Canada, Latvia, and Switzerland.
At the end of pool play, the six pool winners, the six pool runners-up, and the two best-ranked third-placed teams will qualify directly to the Round of 16 for 14 of the spots. The remaining four third-placed teams will play a "lucky loser" round, composed of two matches where the last two teams to play in that next round will emerge. Beginning then and continuing through the medal matches, the tournament will progress in a single-elimination format.
The women's beach volleyball medal matches will be played on August 9. The Closing Ceremony for the 2024 Olympic Games will be held on August 11.
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