Maria Andreevna Prokopyeva

Maria Andreevna Prokopyeva
on the FIVB World Tour in Prague 2014
portrait
birthday	August 16, 1986
place of birth	Leningrad, Soviet Union
size	1.83 m
Partner	2006 Natalja Stepanowa 2007–2010, since 2013 Yevgenia Ukolova 2012–2013 Svetlana Popova
(As of June 1, 2014)

Marija Andrejewna Prokopjewa ( Russian Мария Андреевна Прокопьева , English transcription : Maria Prokopeva, born August 16, 1986 in Leningrad as Marija Bratkowa) is a Russian beach volleyball player .

Career

Prokopjewa was with Anna Morosowa at the Junior World Championships 2002 in Catania ninth. With Julija Wesselowa she finished fifth at the 2003 Youth World Cup in Pattaya . She achieved the same result with Morosowa at the 2004 Junior World Championships in Porto Santo . At the Saint Petersburg Open 2005 she played her first tournament on the FIVB World Tour alongside Inna Judina . The following year she appeared with Natalja Stepanowa at two other open tournaments and was fifth at the Junior World Championships in Mysłowice .

In 2007 Prokopjewa formed a new duo with Yevgenia Ukolova . At the 2007 European Championships in Valencia , the Prokopjewa / Ukolowa lost their opening game against the Latvians Jursone / Minusa . On the losing side, they were able to defeat Montagnolli / Swoboda from Austria before they were eliminated in the tiebreak against the Dutch Kadijk / Mooren . A year later they were also defeated in the first game against the Greek Koutroumanidou / Tsiartsiani at the European Championship in Hamburg . In the losing round they won two games before they had to admit defeat to the German duo Claassen / Röder in three sets . On the World Tour 2008 they achieved the best results of 17th place at the Moscow Grand Slam and 13th place at the Marseille Open. At the 2009 World Cup in Stavanger , they could only win two sets in the preliminary round and were eliminated as the bottom of the group. Then they came in ninth in the Grand Slam in Marseille for the first time in the top ten of a World Tour tournament. At the European Championship in Sochi they won their opening game against Mooren / Wesselink in front of their home crowd ; as they lost the following two games, however, they were eliminated as third in the group after the preliminary round. In the last tournament of the year in Phuket they won their first medal in third place. In 2010 they started with a ninth place in Brasília and achieved the same result at the Grand Slam in Klagenfurt . At the European Championships in Berlin , they secured group victory with three wins. Then they lost in the round of 16 against Jursone / Minusa in three sets.

In 2012 Prokopyeva returned at the Grand Slam in Moscow and finished ninth with Svetlana Popowa . In 2013 she first played a few tournaments with Olga Motritsch and Jekaterina Chomjakowa before reuniting with Popova at the Grand Slam in The Hague . At the 2013 World Cup in Stare Jabłonki, Prokopjewa / Popowa were eliminated without a win after the preliminary round. Since the end of 2013 Prokopjewa has been playing again with her former partner Ukolowa.

Private

Prokopjewa, née Bratkowa, took a break in 2011 because she had children. She also married Sergei Prokopjew , who also plays beach volleyball professionally.

Web links

Commons : Maria Prokopeva  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Profile at FIVB (English)
• Profile in the Beach Volleyball Database (English)
• Profile at volley.ru (Russian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Teams from Russia and Latvia claim second consecutive crown in Anapa. (No longer available online.) CEV September 12, 2012, archived from the original on November 16, 2011 ; accessed on June 17, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ World-class players to headline final day of EEVZA Tour in Zelenogradsk. CEV, August 26, 2012, accessed June 17, 2013 .