Rio de Janeiro, August 11, 2016 - Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena of the United States will look to remain unbeaten in pool C as they battle against Italy's Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai in a pool C match on day six. The Americans will automatically advance with a win; however, a loss would leave them tied for 1st place with Italy and possibly Tunisia if they should win the other pool match. A loss for Italy would leave them at 1-2 and in a possible three-way tie for 2nd place if Tunisia wins or in sole possession of 2nd if Mexico wins the other pool match.
Head to Head
Dalhausser/Lucena have won two of the three matches against Lupo/Nicolai on the FIVB World Tour, all played this season
• Dalhausser/Lucena won 21-18 and 21-19 in 37 minutes, Gstaad Major, Round of 16, 07/09/2016
• Lupo/Nicolai won 22-20 and 23-21 in 39 minutes, Moscow Grand Slam, Round of 24, 05/27/2016
• Dalhausser/Lucena won 21-18 and 21-15 in 33 minutes, Fuzhou Open, Gold Medal, 04/23/2016
Historically the #3 seed has won all three matches against the #10 seed in the Olympic Games
• Julius Brink/Jonas Reckermann (3), Germany def. Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu (10), China, 13-21, 21-19, 15-8 in 52 minutes, Pool Play, London (2012).
• Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos (3), Brazil def. Andrew Schacht/Joshua Slack (10), Australia, 21-14, 21-17 in 44 minutes, Pool Play, Beijing (2008).
• Martin Laciga/Paul Laciga (3), Switzerland def. Nikolas Berger/Florian Gosch (10), Austria, 21-17, 21-19 in 44 minutes, Pool Play, Athens (2004).
Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States, Seed #3, Pool C, 2-0, MAX Set Ratio, 1.6471 Point Ratio, Qualified 3rd with 6,280 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Phil: January 26, 1980 (36y6m11d), 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 (36y10m15d), 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 90-21 (81.1%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 86-17 (83.5%) record in 2015-16.
• 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.
• Defeated Choaib Belhaj/Mohamed Naceur, Tunisia (22), 21-7 and 21-13 in 30 minutes.
• Defeated Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico (15), 21-14 and 21-17 in 40 minutes.
Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai, Italy, Seed #10, Pool C, 1-1, 1.500 Set Ratio, 1.1000 Point Ratio, Qualified 10th with 5,220 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Daniele: May 6, 1991 (25y3m0d), 195 cm (6'5"), 80 kg (178 lbs.), Hometown Rome, 62nd FIVB World Tour event, three gold medals, $312,487 career winnings (ranks 63rd)
• Paolo: August 6, 1988 (28y0m0d), 203 cm (6'8"), 91 kg (202 lbs.), Hometown Ortona, 82nd FIVB World Tour event, three gold medals, $358,412 career winnings (ranks 55th)
• Daniele and Paolo have been playing together since 2011. They are playing in their 58th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks 46th), three gold medals, $620,175 career winnings (ranks 25th).
• Daniele has played in 15 FIVB World Tour final fours with three gold, five silver, five bronze medals and two 4th place finishes.
• Paolo has played in 15 FIVB World Tour final fours with three gold, five silver, five bronze medals and two 4th place finishes.
• Daniele and Paolo have played in four Final Fours in 2015-2016 (Bronze Sochi Open 2015, Silver Vitória Open 2016, Silver Fuzhou Open 2016, Gold Sochi Open 2016).
• Daniele and Paolo finished 5th in the Olympic Games in 2012 (London).
• Daniele and Paolo finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) and 17th in 2015 (The Hague).
• Daniele finished 33rd in the FIVB World Championships with Andrea Tomatis in 2011 (Rome).
• Paolo finished 17th in the FIVB World Championships in 2009 (Stavanger) and 9th in 2011 (Rome), both with Matteo Martino.
• Daniele and Paolo are currently ranked 22nd in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 3,120 points and 20th in winnings with $70,575.
• Daniele and Paolo have a career 201-101 (66.6%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 64-37 (63.4%) record in 2015-16.
• Daniele and Paolo won the gold medal at the European (CEV) Continental Championships in 2014 (Cagliari, Italy) and 2016 (Biel, Switzerland).
• Paolo won the silver medal at the U19 World Championships with Francesco Giontella in 2006 (Bermuda, Bermuda).
• Paolo won the gold medal at the U21 World Championships in 2007 (Modena, Italy) and 2008 (Brighton, England), both with Francesco Giontella.
• Paolo Nicolai was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2012 and Best Offensive Player in 2014.
• Lost to Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen, Mexico (15), 21-14, 14-21, and 11-15 in 48 minutes.
• Defeated Choaib Belhaj/Mohamed Naceur, Tunisia (22), 21-17 and 21-13 in 35 minutes.