Rio de Janeiro, August 15, 2016 - The thin beast faces the woolly mammoth in the quarterfinals with Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena of the United States squaring off against Brazil's Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, the 2015 World Champions. The two teams have split their four meetings on the FIVB World Tour with the Americans winning the only match in 2016. The winner will advance to the semi-finals, and the loser will be eliminated with a 5th-place finish.
Head to Head
The two teams have split their four meetings on the FIVB World Tour, with Dalhausser/Lucena winning the only match in 2016, two months ago.
• Dalhausser/Lucena won 21-16 and 21-15 in 35 minutes, Major Hamburg, Semi-finals, 06/12/2016
• Cerutti/Oscar Schmidt won 21-13 and 21-15 in 38 minutes, SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals, Gold Medal, 10/04/2015
• Dalhausser/Lucena won 18-21, 21-16, and 15-11 in 56 minutes, SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals, Pool Play, 09/30/2015
• Cerutti/Oscar Schmidt won 21-16, 20-22, and 15-13 in 75 minutes, Long Beach Grand Slam, Gold Medal, 08/23/2015
Historically the #1 seed and #3 seed have split their two meetings in the Olympic Games, with the #3 seed winning the gold medal in London.
• Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos (1), Brazil def. Martin Laciga/Paul Laciga (3), Switzerland, 21-13, 21-16 in 38 minutes, Quarterfinals, Athens (2004).
• Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann (3), Germany def. Alison Cerutti/Emanuel Rego (1), Brazil, 23-21, 16-21, 16-14 in 61 minutes, Gold Medal, London (2012).
Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States, Seed #3, Pool C, 3-0, 1st Place, Qualified 3rd with 6,280 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Phil: January 26, 1980 (36y6m20d), 205 cm (6'9"), 90 kg (200 lbs.), Hometown Baden, Switzerland, 98th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 80th), 34 gold medals (ranks 3rd), $1,117,900 career winnings (ranks 3rd)
• Nick: September 22, 1979 (36y10m24d), 185 cm (6'1"), 80 kg (178 lbs.), Hometown Davie, Florida, 87th FIVB World Tour event, five gold medals, $472,000 career winnings (ranks 37th)
• Phil and Nick first played together in 2005 and reunited in 2015 for a run at the Olympics. They are playing in their 18th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together, five gold medals, $333,500 career winnings (ranks 53rd).
• Phil has played in 64 FIVB World Tour final fours with 34 gold, 14 silver, 12 bronze medals and four 4th place finishes.
• Nick has played in 21 FIVB World Tour final fours with five gold, nine silver, four bronze medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Phil and Nick have played in 11 Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Silver Long Beach Grand Slam 2015, Silver Sochi Open 2015, Gold Xiamen Open 2015, Silver World Tour Finals 2015, Gold Puerto Vallarta Open 2015-16, Silver Doha Open 2015-16, Gold Maceió Open 2016, Gold Fuzhou Open 2016, Bronze Cincinnati Open 2016, Gold Hamburg Major 2016, Silver Gstaad Major 2016).
• Phil won the gold medal in the Olympic Games in 2008 (Beijing) and finished 9th in 2012 (London), both with Todd Rogers .
• Phil finished 7th in the FIVB World Championships in 2005 (Berlin) won the gold medal in 2007 (Gstaad), won the bronze medal in 2009 (Stavanger), and finished 9th in 2011 (Rome), all with Todd Rogers, and finished 9th with Sean Rosenthal in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Nick finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships with Brad Keenan in 2009 (Stavanger), 9th with Matt Fuerbringer in 2011 (Rome), 33rd with John Hyden in 2013 (Stare Jablonki), and 4th with Theo Brunner in 2015 (The Hague).
• Phil and Nick are currently ranked 2nd in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 5,070 points and 3rd in winnings with $188,000.
• Phil and Nick have a career 92-21 (81.4%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 88-17 (83.8%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 57-13 (81.4%) in two sets and 35-8 (81.4%) in three sets, including 71-1 (98.6%) when winning the 1st set and 21-20 (51.2%) when losing the 1st set.
• Phil and Nick won the gold medal at the NORCECA Continental Championships in 2015 (Turtle Beach, Trinidad and Tobago).
• Nick won a gold medal at the Norceca Continental Tour with Theo Brunner in 2013 (San Diego, United States).
• Phil was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2006, Best Blocker in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014, Best Hitter in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, Best Offensive Player in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, Best Server in 2014, Best Setter in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015, Most Outstanding in 2010, 2013, 2014, Sportsperson in 2008, and was named Team of the Year and Tour Points Champion with Todd Rogers in 2010.
• Phil (205 cm) and Nick (185 cm) have the biggest difference in height at 20 cm (8"). They are tied with Emiel Boersma (205 cm)/Bram Ronnes (185 cm) of the Netherlands in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
• Pool C: Defeated Choaib Belhaj/Mohamed Naceur, Tunisia (22), 21-7 and 21-13 in 30 minutes.
• Pool C: Defeated Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico (15), 21-14 and 21-17 in 40 minutes.
• Pool C: Defeated Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy (10), 21-13, 17-21, and 24-22 in 55 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Alexander Huber/Robin Seidl, Austria (18), 21-14 and 21-15 in 37 minutes.
Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, Seed #1, Pool A, 2-1, 2nd Place, Qualified as 2015 World Championship Gold Medalists
• Alison: December 7, 1985 (30y8m8d), 203 cm (6'8"), 110 kg (244 lbs.), Hometown Espirito Santo, 100th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 73rd), 20 gold medals (ranked 6th), $1,025,450 career winnings (ranks 5th).
• Bruno: October 6, 1986 (29y10m9d), 185 cm (6'1"), 87 kg (193 lbs.), Hometown Brasilia, 99th FIVB World Tour event (ranks 75th), 11 gold medals (ranks 14th), $743,025 career winnings (ranks 12th).
• Alison and Bruno have been playing together since 2014. They are playing in their 30th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together, nine gold medals (ranks 10th), $892,500 career winnings (ranked 7th).
• Alison has played in 54 FIVB World Tour final fours with 20 gold, 15 silver, 11 bronze medals and eight 4th place finishes.
• Bruno has played in 31 FIVB World Tour final fours with 11 gold, eight silver, four bronze medals and eight 4th place finishes.
• Alison and Bruno have played in 13 Final Fours in 2015-2016 (4th Moscow Grand Slam 2015, Gold The Hague World Championships 2015, Gold Gstaad Major Series 2015, Gold Yokohama Grand Slam 2015, Gold Long Beach Grand Slam 2015, Gold Olsztyn Grand Slam 2015, 4th Rio de Janeiro Open 2015, Gold Fort Lauderdale World Tour Finals 2015, Gold Vitória Open 2016, Silver Moscow Grand Slam 2016, 4th Hamburg Major Series 2016, Silver Olsztyn Grand Slam 2016, Gold Porec Major Series 2016).
• Alison won the silver medal in the Olympic Games with Emanuel Rego in 2012 (London).
• Alison and Bruno won the gold medal in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• Alison won the silver medal in the FIVB World Championships with Harley Marques in 2009 (Stavanger), won gold in 2011 (Rome) and finished 4th in 2013 (Stare Jablonki), both with Emanuel Rego .
• Bruno finished 17th in the FIVB World Championship with Joao Maciel in 2009 (Stavanger), 9th with Benjamin Insfran in 2011 (Rome), and 5th with Pedro Solberg in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Alison and Bruno are currently ranked 10th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,140 points and 2nd in winnings with $206,000.
• Alison and Bruno have a career 147-38 (79.5%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 100-20 (83.3%) record in 2015-16. Excluding forfeits, they are 109-19 (85.2%) in two sets and 34-19 (64.2%) in three sets, including 123-9 (93.2%) when winning the 1st set and 20-29 (40.8%) when losing the 1st set.
• Alison won the gold medal at the 2011 Pan American Games with Emanuel Rego (Guadalajara, Mexico).
• Bruno won the gold medal at the U21 World Championships with Pedro Solberg in 2006 (Myslowice, Poland).
• Alison and Bruno were Team of the Year and Tour Points Champions in 2015.
• Alison was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2009, Best Blocker in 2011 and 2015, Best Hitter in 2011 and 2012, Best Offensive Player in 2011 and was Team of the Year and Tour Points Champion with Emanuel Rego in 2011.
• Bruno was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2010, Best Defensive Player in 2013, 2014, and 2015, Best Offensive Player in 2015, Most Outstanding in 2015, and Sportsperson in 2015.
• Alison is the heaviest men's player who has competed in any of the six Olympic Games at 110 kg (244 lbs.).
• Bruno is the nephew of Basketball Hall of Fame legend Oscar Schmidt
• Pool A: Defeated Josh Binstock/Sam Schachter, Canada (24), 21-19 and 22-20 in 43 minutes.
• Pool A: Lost to Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst, Austria (13), 21-23, 21-16, and 13-15 in 57 minutes.
• Pool A: Defeated Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri, Italy (12), 21-19 and 21-16 in 45 minutes.
• Round of 16: Defeated Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera, Spain (7), 24-22 and 21-13 in 39 minutes.