Rio de Janeiro, August 9, 2016 - Poland's Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska are hoping to continue their winnings ways in a pool A match against Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova of Russia to wrap up the morning session of day four.
Head to Head
Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova have won three of the five meetings on the FIVB World Tour dating back to 2011. The Poles won the first and last matches, both in pool play, in straight sets in the Stare Jablonki Grand Slam in 2011 and in three sets in the Klagenfurt Major last month. The Russians won the three middle matches, two pool play matches, a straight set win at the Stare Jablonki Grand Slam in 2012 and a three-set victory in the Moscow Grand Slam in 2015. Brzostek/Kolosinska won the first meeting in 2016, a round of 24, straight-set win at the Antalya Open in May. The Russians have also beaten the Poles three times in European (CEV) Continental Championships in pool D in 2016, in the semi-finals in 2015, and in the round of 16 in 2013.
Historically the #12 seed has won all three of the pool play matches against the #24 seed in the Olympic Games, all in straight sets, and also won a round two match, 16-14 in Sydney (2000).
Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska, Poland, Seed #12, Pool A, 1-0, 2.000 Set Ratio, 1.2195 Point Ratio, Qualified 11th with 4,800 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Monika: July 28, 1989 (27y0m9d), 173 cm (5'8"), 64 kg (142 lbs.), Hometown Rybnik, 80th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 94th), $169,587 career winnings
• Kinga: June 2, 1990 (26y2m4d), 179 cm (5'10"), 64 kg (142 lbs.), Hometown Lublin, 63rd FIVB World Tour event, $157,662 career winnings
• Monika and Kinga have been playing together since 2010. They are playing in their 55th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 45th), $309,825 career winnings (ranks 54th).
• Monika has played in two FIVB World Tour final fours with one silver medal and one bronze medal.
• Kinga has played in two FIVB World Tour final fours with one silver medal and one bronze medal.
• Monika and Kinga have played in two Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Bronze Olsztyn Grand Slam 2015, Silver Rio de Janeiro Grand Slam 2016).
• Monika and Kinga finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 17th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Monika and Kinga are currently ranked 19th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 2,820 points and 15th in winnings with $91,000.
• Monika and Kinga have a career 93-112 (45.4%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 50-44 (53.2%) record in 2015-16.
• Monika and Kinga won the gold medal at the U21 World Championships in 2009 (Blackpool, England).
• Monika and Kinga won the bronze medal at the European (CEV) Continental Championships in 2015 (Klagenfurt, Austria) and one other silver medal on the CEV Continental Tour in 2012.
• Monika and Kinga are the first women's team from Poland to compete in the Olympic Games for beach volleyball.
• Monika won the bronze medal at the U21 World Championships with Karolina Sowala Marciniak in 2008 (Brighton, England).
• Defeated Lauren Fendrick / Brooke Sweat, United States (13), 14-21, 21-13, and 15-7 in 45 minutes.
Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova, Russia, Seed #24, Pool A, 0-1, 0.000 Set Ratio, 0.7143 Point Ratio, Qualified from Continental Cup Finals
• Ekaterina: August 11, 1987 (28y11m26d), 180 cm (5'11"), 64 kg (142 lbs.), Hometown Bryansk, 77th FIVB World Tour event, two gold medals, $208,500 career winnings (ranks 85th)
• Evgeniya: May 17, 1989 (27y2m20d), 182 cm (6'0"), 66 kg (147 lbs.), Hometown Moscow, 109th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 46th), two gold medals, $272,512 career winnings (ranks 62nd)
• Ekaterina and Evgeniya have been playing together since 2011. They are playing in their 51st FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 53rd), two gold medals, $332,200 career winnings (ranks 48th). They have won Russia's only two FIVB World Tour gold medals.
• Ekaterina has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, one silver, one bronze medal and one 4th place finish.
• Evgeniya has played in eight FIVB World Tour final fours with two gold, one silver, four bronze medals and one 4th place finish.
• Ekaterina and Evgeniya finished 9th in the Olympic Games in 2012 (London).
• Ekaterina and Evgeniya finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2011 (Rome), 9th in 2013 (Stare Jablonki), and 9th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Evgeniya finished 37th in the FIVB World Championships with Maria Prokopeva in 2009 (Stavanger).
• Ekaterina and Evgeniya are currently ranked 23rd in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 2,700 points and 29th in winnings with $47,600.
• Ekaterina and Evgeniya have a career 129-103 (55.6%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 53-46 (53.5%) record in 2015-16.
• Ekaterina and Evgeniya won the silver medal at the European (CEV ) Continental Championships in 2015 (Klagenfurt, Austria).
• Evgeniya won the bronze medal at the 2014 CEV Baku Masters with Alexandra Moiseeva in 2014 (Baku, Azerbaijan).
• Ekaterina and Evgeniya and their Russian teammates were eliminated by France in the quarterfinals of the 2016 CEV Continental Cup in Stavanger, Norway. Russia received a “wild card” for the Sochi finals where Ekaterina teamed with Nadezda Makroguzova to post a 5-1 record in Sochi and Evgeniya and Anastasia Barsuk were 4-2. With a ticket to Rio at stake after Russia and Austria split their first two matches to force a “golden set”, Ekaterina and Evgeniya were reunited on the Sochi sand and posted a 15-2 win over Barbara Hansel and Stefanie Schwaiger to clinch Russia's second Olympic birth.
• Lost to Talita Antunes / Larissa Franca, Brazil (1), 14-21 and 16-21 in 34 minutes.