Rio de Janeiro, August 9, 2016 - Canada's Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan and Switzerland's Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr wrap up day four with a battle for control over pool E. Both teams won their opening matches, and a win will almost guarantee advancing to the elimination stage.
Head to Head
Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan have won two of the three meetings on the FIVB World Tour. The Swiss won the first match, a three-set pool play win at the Long Beach Grand Slam in July, 2013 and the Canadians have won the last two, a round of 16 straight-set victory at the Stavanger Major in June, 2015 and a three-set win at the Gstaad Major in July, 2015.
Historically the #5 seed has won all three meetings against the #17 seed in the Olympic Games, all in pool play, and all in three sets.
Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, Canada, Seed #5, Pool E, 1-0, MAX Set Ratio, 1.3125 Point Ratio, Qualified 5th with 6,150 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Heather: September 13, 1987 (28y10m24d), 170 cm (5'7"), 64 kg (142 lbs.), Hometown London, 68th FIVB World Tour event, $273,375 career winnings (ranks 60th)
• Sarah: August 16, 1986 (29y11m21d), 196 cm (6'5"), 75 kg (167 lbs.), Hometown Kitchener, 38th FIVB World Tour event, $228,225 career winnings (ranks 74th)
• Heather and Sarah have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 38th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 88th), $456,450 career winnings (ranks 29th).
• Heather has played in seven FIVB World Tour final fours with three silver medals, three bronze medals and one 4th place finish.
• Sarah has played in seven FIVB World Tour final fours with three silver medals, three bronze medals and one 4th place finish.
• Heather and Sarah have played in seven Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Silver Prague Open 2015, Silver Porec Major 2015, Bronze Gstaad Major 2015, Bronze Yokohama Grand Slam 2015, 4th World Tour Finals 2015, Bronze Moscow Grand Slam 2016, Silver Porec Major Series 2016).
• Heather and Sarah finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 5th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Heather finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships with Elizabeth Maloney in 2011 (Rome).
• Heather and Sarah are currently ranked 16th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 3,160 points and 6th in winnings with $127,000.
• Heather and Sarah have a career 108-74 (59.3%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 72-34 (67.9%) record in 2015-16.
• Heather won gold medals on the NORCECA Continental Tour in 2010 (Boqueron, Puerto Rico) and 2011 (Guatemala City, Guatemala) along with one more silver and bronze medal, all with Elizabeth Maloney.
• Heather was named the FIVB World Tour Best Defensive Player in 2015.
• Sarah was named the FIVB World Tour Best Blocker in 2015.
• Sarah is the tallest women's player competing in the Rio Olympics at 196 cm (6'5"). She is tied for all-time tallest with Bibiana Candelas of Mexico who played in the 2008 Olympic Games.
• Sarah (196 cm) and Heather (170 cm) have the biggest height difference at 26 cm (10") of any women's team in any of the six Olympic Games.
• Sarah has also made her mark in the United States as one of only four players to be named a four-time college All-American during her career at Nebraska.
• Defeated Sophie van Gestel / Jantine van der Vlist, Netherlands (20), 21-15 and 21-17 in 39 minutes.
Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland, Seed #17, Pool E, 1-0, MAX Set Ratio, 1.5000 Point Ratio, Qualified 14th with 4,620 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Joana: October 2, 1991 (24y10m4d), 190 cm (6'3"), 72 kg (160 lbs.), Hometown Zürich, 59th FIVB World Tour event, two gold medals, $189,250 career winnings (ranks 94th)
• Nadine: February 5, 1985 (31y6m1d), 172 cm (5'8"), 64 kg (142 lbs.), Hometown Frutigen, 120th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 24th), four gold medals, $381,300 career winnings (ranks 38th)
• Joana and Nadine have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 43rd FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 68th), two gold medals, $350,300 career winnings (ranks 45th).
• Joana has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, one silver, and two bronze medals.
• Nadine has played in nine FIVB World Tour final fours with four gold, one silver, three bronze medals and one 4th place finish.
• Joana and Nadine have played in five Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Bronze Sochi Open 2015, Gold Xiamen Open 2015, Bronze Fuzhou Open 2016, Gold Sochi Open 2016, Silver Klagenfurt Major 2016).
• Nadine finished 9th in the Olympic Games with Simone Kuhn in 2012 (London).
• Joana and Nadine finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 33rd in 2015 (The Hague).
• Nadine finished 37th in the FIVB World Championships with Annik Skrivan in 2007 (Gstaad) and 17th in 2009 (Stavanger) and 17th in 2011 (Rome), both with Simone Kuhn.
• Joana and Nadine are currently ranked 11th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 3,940 points and 7th in winnings with $111,150.
• Joana and Nadine have a career 112-87 (56.3%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 74-44 (62.7%) record in 2015-16.
• Joana and Nadine have won one gold medal and one silver medal on the European (CEV) Continental Tour.
• Joana Heidrich won the gold medal at the U21 World Championships with Nina Betschart in 2011 (Halifax, Canada).
• Nadine won the bronze medal at the CEV Continental Championships with Simone Kuhn in 2009 (Sochi, Russia).
• Defeated Karla Borger / Britta Buthe, Germany (8), 21-12 and 21-16 in 38 minutes.