Evandro and Andre says there’s room for improvement despite being named number one

• Facebook
• Twitter

Evandro (right) and Andre lift the World Championship trophy in Vienna

As first seasons go, it couldn’t have got much better for Brazilian pair Evandro Goncalves de Oliveira Junior and Andre Loyola Stein: they are the undisputed number one men’s team in beach volleyball right now.

Twelve months ago, the pair were playing with different partners. Evandro – alongside Pedro Solberg – won silver at the Swatch World Tour Finals in Toronto and finished ninth at the Olympics. Andre, meanwhile, had just finished his first season on FIVB World Tour, playing with a variety of partners, including the legendary Ricardo Santos.

Paired together ahead of the 2017 season, nothing could have prepared Evandro and Andre for a season of such success. Starting with silver at the Fort Lauderdale Major in February and ending with another silver at the Swatch World Tour Finals in Hamburg, the South Americans were also crowned World Champions in between.

For the FIVB’s Team of the Year winners, the sky’s the limit and they won’t be stopping after just one season – unlike their fellow countrymen Pedro and Guto Carvalhaes – with the duo now eyeing even more medals in 2018.

“The season has been positive for us, especially after winning the World Championships, but we know we still have a lot to improve,” said Evandro, the ace-hitting supremo from Rio. “We will learn from the setback at Hamburg and use it as motivation for next year.”

Those kind of sentiments are echoed by Andre, who at 22, wrote himself in the history books by becoming the youngest ever player to lift the World Championship trophy.

“We’re frustrated we didn’t win the World Tour Finals because we wanted to win, but it’s pleasant that we managed to be yet in another final after the World Championships,” said the rising star from Vila Velha. “We know we still have a lot to improve and we will work on it.”

Their World Championship triumph might have been the only gold medal they took back to Brazil in 2017 – but you can be sure that the pair will be gunning for more glory when the new season kicks off next year.