Rio de Janeiro, August 8, 2016 - April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States are vying to take control of pool C as they battle China's Fan Wang/Yuan Yue in the final match of day three. Both teams won their opening match, and the winner will almost be assured of advancing to the elimination stage.
Head to Head
April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings have won three out of the four meetings on the FIVB World Tour. The Americans won the first two meetings, both at the season-opening event in Fuzhou, a quarterfinal match in 2014, 21-17 and 21-18 and the bronze medal match in 2015, 13-21, 21-13, and 15-11 in 47 minutes. The Chinese got revent in the World Championships in July, 2015 by winning a round of 16 match, 21-19, 17-21, and 15-13 in 56 minutes. Ross/Walsh Jennings won the only meeting in 2016 at the Xiamen open in April, 21-12 and 21-15 in pool play.
Historically the #3 seed has won all three matches against the #15 seed in the Olympic Games, all in pool play. The last two Olympics required three sets, with the London (2012) match being the only set that the USA's Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings lost during their three gold medal runs, 17-21, 21-8, 15-10 to Austrias Doris and Stephanie Schwaiger. The match in Athens (2004) was a straight-set, 21-13 and 21-14 victory by the higher seed.
April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States, Seed #3, Pool C, 1-0, MAX Set Ratio, 1.5556 Point Ratio, Qualified 3rd with 6,670 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• April: June 20, 1982 (34y1m17d), 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 (37y11m22d), 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 146-26 (84.9%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 80-18 (81.6%) record in 2015-16.
• 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.
• Defeated Mariafe Artacho / Nicole Laird, Australia (22), 21-14 and 21-13 in 34 minutes.
Fan Wang/Yuan Yue, China, Seed #15, Pool C, 1-0, 2.00 Set Ratio, 1.0364 Point Ratio, Qualified 17th with 4,150 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Fan: January 27, 1994 (22y6m10d), 188 cm (6'2"), 73 kg (162 lbs.), Hometown Hebei, 64th FIVB World Tour event, $176,362 career winnings (ranks 100th)
• Yuan: July 23, 1987 (29y0m14d), 184 cm (6'0"), 70 kg (155 lbs.), Hometown Weifang, Shandong, 82nd FIVB World Tour event (ranks 88th), $226,312 career winnings (ranks 76th)
• Fan Wang and Yuan Yue have been playing together since 2012. They are playing in their 42nd FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 70th), $329,675 career winnings (ranks 50th).
• Fan has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with two silver medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Yuan has played in five FIVB World Tour final fours with two silver medals and three 4th place finishes.
• Fan and Yuan have played in two Final Fours in 2015-2016 (4th Fuzhou Open 2015, 4th Moscow Grand Slam 2015).
• Fan and Yuan finished 5th in the FIVB World Championships in 2015 (The Hague).
• Yuan finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships with Ying Huang in 2011 (Rome).
• Fan and Yuan are currently ranked 29th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 2,460 points and 28th in winnings with $48,375.
• Fan and Yuan have a career 104-85 (55.0%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 59-53 (52.7%) record in 2015-16.
• Yuan won the bronze medal at the Asian (AVC) Continental Championships in 2012 (China) and the gold medal in 2013 (China), both with with Yuanyuan Ma.
• Defeated Isabelle Forrer / Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (10), 24-22, 18-21, and 15-12 in 66 minutes