Rio de Janeiro, August 16, 2016 - London Medalists April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States battle the 2015 World Champions Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas of Brazil in the second semi-final on day eleven. The Americans have won three of the four meetings on the FIVB World Tour, but the two teams haven't played since July, 2015. The winner will advance to the gold medal match, and the loser will play for the bronze medal.
Head to Head
April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings have won three of the four meetings on the FIVB World Tour, but the teams haven't played since July, 2015.
• Ross/Walsh Jennings won 21-17 and 23-21 in 48 minutes, Gstaad Major, Quarterfinals, 07/10/2015
• Ross/Walsh Jennings won 21-17 and 21-17 in 37 minutes, ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, Gold Medal, 07/27/2014
• Bednarczuk/Seixas won 21-19 and 21-17 in 38 minutes, Shanghai Grand Slam, Quarterfinals, 05/03/2014
• Ross/Walsh Jennings won 22-20 and 21-11 in 37 minutes, Fuzhou Open, Round of 16, 04/26/2014
Historically the #2 seed has beaten the #3 in two of the three meetings, but the #3 seed won the last match in the semi-finals in London.
• Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings (3), United States def. Chen Xue/Xi Zhang (2), China, 22-20, 22-20 in 43 minutes, Semi-finals, London (2012).
• Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings (2), United States def. Ana Paula Henkel/Larissa Franca (3), Brazil, 21-18, 21-15 in 39 minutes, Quarterfinals, Beijing (2008).
• Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar (2), Brazil def. Ana Paula Henkel/Sandra Pires (3), Brazil, 15-21, 21-13, 15-13 in 59 minutes, Quarterfinals, Athens (2004).
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 (34y1m27d), 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 (38y0m1d), 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 150-26 (85.2%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 84-18 (82.4%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 106-10 (91.4%) in two sets and 41-11 (78.8%) in three sets, including 124-5 (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.
• Quarterfinals: Defeated Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia (7), 21-14 and 21-16 in 38 minutes.
Agatha Bednarczuk/Barbara Seixas, Brazil, Seed #2, Pool B, 2-1, 2nd Place, Qualified as 2015 World Championship Gold Medalists
• Agatha and Barbara began playing together for the 2012 season but played with different partners in 2013. They are playing in their 41st FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 73rd), four gold medals, and $699,200 career winnings (ranks 14th).
• Agatha: June 22, 1983 (33y1m25d), 182 cm (6'0"), 70 kg (155 lbs.), Hometown Curitiba, 96th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 65th), four gold medals, $472,300 career winnings (ranks 26th)
• Barbara: August 3, 1987 (29y0m13d), 178 cm (5'10"), 67 kg (149 lbs.), Hometown Rio de Janeiro, 55th FIVB World Tour event, four gold medals, $413,500 career winnings (ranks 35th)
• Agatha has played in 19 FIVB World Tour final fours with four gold, seven silver, six bronze medals and two 4th place finishes.
• Barbara has played in 17 FIVB World Tour final fours with four gold, six silver and seven bronze medals.
• Agatha and Barbara have played in nine Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Gold Prague Open 2015, Silver Stavanger Major 2015, Gold St. Petersburg Grand Slam 2015, Gold World Championships 2015, Silver Yokohama Grand Slam 2015, Silver Rio de Janeiro Open 2015, Bronze World Tour Finals 2015, Bronze Maceió Open 2016, Silver Hamburg Major 2016).
• Agatha and Barbara won the gold medal in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• Agatha finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships with Sandra Pires in 2005 (Berlin) and 17th with Maria Antonelli in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Barbara won the bronze medal in the FIVB World Championships with Liliane Maestrini in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Agatha and Barbara are currently ranked 20th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 2,800 points and 12th in winnings with $97,000.
• Agatha and Barbara have a career 165-54 (75.3%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 91-22 (80.5%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 126-27 (82.4%) in two sets and 37-26 (58.7%) in three sets, including 140-10 (93.3%) when winning the 1st set and 23-43 (34.8%) when losing the 1st set.
• Barbara won silver medals at the U18 World Championships with Carolina Salgado in 2003 (Pattaya, Thailand) and 2004 (Termoli, Italy).
• Barbara won gold medals at the U19 World Championships with Carolina Aragao in 2005 (Saint Quay Portrieux, France) and 2006 (Myslowice, Poland).
• Barbara won the gold medal at the U21 World Championships with Liliane Maestrini in 2007 (Modena, Italy).
• Barbara was named the FIVB World Tour Top Rookie in 2012.
• Pool B: Defeated Barbora Hermannova/Marketa Slukova, Czech Republic (23), 19-21, 21-17, and 15-11 in 57 minutes.
• Pool B: Defeated Ana Gallay/Georgina Klug, Argentina (14), 21-11 and 21-17 in 37 minutes.
• Pool B: Lost to Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez, Spain (11), 17-21 and 20-22 in 44 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Fan Wang/Yuan Yue, China (15), 21-12 and 21-16 in 38 minutes.
• Quarterfinals: Defeated Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova, Russia (24), 23-21 and 21-16 in 49 minutes.