Rio de Janeiro, August 14, 2016 - April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States will try to continue their unbeaten streak against Australia's Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy when they meet in the final women's quarterfinal match. The Americans have won all four previous meetings in FIVB World Tour competition, but they last played at the season-opening event in April, 2015. The winner will advance to the semi-finals, and the loser will be eliminated with a 5th-place finish.
Head to Head
April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings have won all four meetings in FIVB World Tour competition, but they haven't played since the season-opening event in April, 2015.
• Ross/Walsh Jennings won 18-21, 21-18, and 15-9 in 46 minutes, Fuzhou Open, Quarterfinals, 04/25/2015
• Ross/Walsh Jennings won 21-17 and 24-22 in 41 minutes, The Hague Grand Slam, Pool Play, 07/17/2014
• Ross/Walsh Jennings won 21-15 and 21-15 in 34 minutes, Berlin Grand Slam, Pool Play, 06/19/2014
• Ross/Walsh Jennings won 21-9, 16-21, and 15-9 in 39 minutes, Shanghai Grand Slam, Pool Play, 05/01/2014
Historically the #3 seed has won the only meeting against the #7 seed in the Olympic Games.
• Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings (3), United States def. Greta Cicolari/Marta Menegatti (7), Italy, 21-13, 21-13 in 33 minutes, Quarterfinals, London (2012).
April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States, Seed #3, Pool C, 3-0, 1st Place, Qualified 3rd with 6,670 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• April: June 20, 1982 (34y1m25d), 185 cm (6'1"), 76 kg (169 lbs.), Hometown Newport Beach, California 114th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 36th), 20 gold medals (ranks 8th), $979,175 career winnings (ranks 8th)
• Kerri: August 15, 1978 (37y11m30d), 188 cm (6'2"), 70 kg (155 lbs.), Hometown Santa Clara, California 115th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 34th), 54 gold medals (ranks 2nd), $1,409,170 career winnings, (ranks 3rd)
• April and Kerri have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 29th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together, 10 gold medals (ranks 7th), $680,500 career winnings (ranks 17th).
• April has played in 54 FIVB World Tour final fours with 20 gold, 15 silver, 11 bronze medals and eight 4th place finishes.
• Kerri has played in 86 FIVB World Tour final fours with 54 gold, 18 silver, nine bronze medals and five 4th place finishes.
• April and Kerri have played in 11 Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Bronze Fuzhou Open 2015, 4th Gstaad Major 2015, Silver Long Beach Grand Slam 2015, Gold Rio de Janeiro Grand Slam 2016, Silver Vitória Open 2016, Bronze Xiamen Open 2016, Gold Fuzhou Open 2016, Gold Cincinnati Open 2016, Gold Moscow Grand Slam 2016, 4th Hamburg Major 2016, Silver Gstaad Major 2016).
• April won the silver medal in the Olympic Games with Jennifer Kessy in 2012 (London).
• Kerri is a three-time defending Olympic games gold medalist, winning with Misty May-Treanor in 2004 (Athens), 2008 (Beijing), and 2012 (London). She is competing in her fourth Olympics in beach volleyball, more than any other woman in Rio, which ties May-Treanor for second most. Australia's Natalie Cook leads all women with five Olympic appearances from 1996-2012.
• April and Kerri finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• April finished 37th in the FIVB World Championships in 2007 (Gstaad), won the gold medal in 2009 (Stavanger), and finished 5th in 2011 (Rome), all with Jennifer Kessy and finished 4th with Whitney Pavlik in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Kerri finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships in 2001 (Klagenfurt), won gold medals in 2003 (Rio de Janeiro), 2005 (Berlin), and 2007 (Gstaad), and won the silver medal in 2011 (Rome), all with Misty May-Treanor.
• April and Kerri are currently ranked 3rd in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,730 points and 2nd in winnings with $217,000.
• April and Kerri have a career 149-26 (85.1%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 83-18 (82.2%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 105-10 (91.3%) in two sets and 41-11 (78.8%) in three sets, including 123-5 (96.1%) when winning the 1st set and 23-16 (59.0%) when losing the 1st set.
• April was named the FIVB World Tour Top Rookie in 2007, Best Hitter in 2009 and 2011, Best Offensive Player in 2009, and Best Server in 2011, 2012, and 2015.
• Kerri was named the FIVB World Tour Best Blocker in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2012, and 2014, Best Hitter in 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2012, Best Offensive Player in 2007 and 2014, Most Inspirational in 2011, 2012, and 2014, Most Outstanding in 2007, 2012, 2013, and 2014, Sportsperson in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2012, and was the FIVB World Tour Points Champion in 2002 with Misty May-Treanor.
• Kerri is the oldest women's player competing in the Rio Olympics at 37 years, 11 months. She is the sixth oldest in all Olympic Games; Australia's Kerri Pottharst is the oldest at 39 years, 1 month at the start of the 2004 Olympics in Sydney.
• Pool C: Defeated Mariafe Artacho/Nicole Laird, Australia (22), 21-14 and 21-13 in 32 minutes.
• Pool C: Defeated Fan Wang/Yuan Yue, China (15), 21-16 and 21-9 in 33 minutes.
• Pool C: Defeated Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (10), 21-13, 22-24, and 15-12 in 62 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Laura Giombini/Marta Menegatti, Italy (9), 21-10 and 21-16 in 32 minutes.
Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia, Seed #7, Pool F, 3-0, 1st Place, Qualified 7th with 5,470 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Louise: August 7, 1981 (35y0m7d), 184 cm (6'0"), 72 kg (160 lbs.), Hometown Melbourne, 79th FIVB World Tour event, $285,987 career winnings (ranks 58th)
• Taliqua: June 25, 1992 (24y1m20d), 184 cm (6'0"), 68 kg (151 lbs.), Hometown Kingaroy, 43rd FIVB World Tour event, $180,737 career winnings (ranks 96th)
• Louise and Taliqua have been playing together since 2013. They are playing in their 39th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together with $357,225 in career winnings (ranks 43rd).
• Louise has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with one silver medal, one bronze medal and three 4th place finishes.
• Taliqua has played in three FIVB World Tour final fours with one bronze medal and two 4th place finishes.
• Louise and Taliqua have played in three Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Bronze Porec Major 2015, 4th Long Beach Grand Slam 2015, 4th Vitória Open 2016).
• Louise finished 19th in the Olympic Games with Becchara Palmer in 2012 (London).
• Louise and Taliqua finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 5th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Louise finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships with Becchara Palmer in 2011 (Rome).
• Louise and Taliqua are currently ranked 32nd in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 2,230 points and 23rd in winnings with $62,500.
• Louise and Taliqua have a career 85-91 (48.3%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 53-35 (60.2%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 51-44 (53.7%) in two sets and 29-45 (39.2%) in three sets, including 66-27 (71.0%) when winning the 1st set and 14-62 (18.4%) when losing the 1st set.
• Louise and Taliqua won gold medals at the Asian (AVC) Continental Championships in 2014 (China) and 2015 (Hong Kong).
• Taliqua won the bronze medal at the U19 World Championships with Eliza Hynes in 2010 (Porto, Portugal).
• Taliqua won the bronze medal at the U21 World Championships with Mariafe Artacho in 2012 (Halifax, Canada).
• Louise was named the FIVB World Tour Top Rookie in 2009.
• Pool F: Defeated Natalia Alfaro/Karen Charles, Costa Rica (18), 21-15 and 21-14 in 40 minutes.
• Pool F: Defeated Norisbeth Agudo/Olaya Pazo, Venezuela (19), 21-9 and 21-14 in 29 minutes.
• Pool F: Defeated Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands (6), 27-25, 18-21, and 16-14 in 60 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska, Poland (12), 15-21, 21-16, and 15-11 in 47 minutes.