The last two seasons of international Beach Volleyball competition have been “special” for the women from Greece, and the 2006 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour could produce more success for the teams from the southern European nation. A season after hosting Athens 2004 Olympic Games, the sport’s most prestigious sporting event, two teams from Greece produced the country’s most successful results on the 2005 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour to pace the European effort on the international circuit. Vassiliki Arvaniti and Vasso Karadassiou became the continent’s top-ranked women’s Beach Volleyball tandem in leading Greece to a gold medal, four podiums and five “final four” finishes on the 2005 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour. In addition, the pair captured the 54-country Confédération Européenne De Volleyball (CEV) continental championship to clinch the 2005 point’s title.

“I would have never thought that we would be so successful in our first year playing together”, the 32-year old Karadassiou said about her first-season with Arvaniti. “Vicky’s play was unbelievable. Our trainers and coaches also dedicated a lot of time to prepare us. The successes are the most wonderful prize for all the pain and suffering we had to endure last season.”

Karadassiou is looking forward to the new season when she will have to prove that last year’s triumphs “were no fluke: We want to continue to be among the top three teams in Europe and assert our position in the top ten on the world ranking list. We have concentrated our off-season workouts on playing better defense. In addition to the basic things like reception and side-outs, we need to be more aggressive with our attack.”

While Karadassiou was named the top women’s player for the 2005 season by the CEV, Arvaniti became the youngest woman (20 years, three months, 15 days) to win a SWATCH event. She and Vasso Karadassiou upset top-ranked Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil in the finals of the Norway Grand Slam event last July in Stavanger.

Arvaniti and Karadassiou, who won two of four CEV events in 2005, finished as the No. 5-ranked team on the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour while fellow Greeks Tthalia Koutroumanidou and Maria Tsistsiani were ninth on the point’s list. Arvaniti and Karadassiou combined for $166,500 in earnings while Koutroumanidou and Tsistsiani split $113,950 with two podium placements.