Rio de Janeiro, August 12, 2016 - London medalists and pool C winners, April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States, take on Italy's Laura Giombini/Marta Menegatti in the last round of 16 match on day seven. Walsh Jennings and Menegatti met in the quarterfinals in London with different partners. The winner will advance to the quarterfinals, and the loser will be eliminated with a 9th-place finish.
Head to Head
The two teams have not met in FIVB World Tour competition, but Walsh Jennings and Misty-May Treanor eliminated Menegatti and Greta Cicolari in quarterfinals of the London (2012) Olympic Games.
Historically the #3 seed has won the only match against the #9 seed in the Olympic Games
• Misty May-Treanor/Kerri Walsh Jennings (3), United States def. Sanne Keizer/Marleen Van Iersel (9), Netherlands, 21-13, 21-12 in 30 minutes, Round of 16, London (2012).
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 (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 148-26 (85.1%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 82-18 (82.0%) 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.
• Defeated Fan Wang/Yuan Yue, China (15), 21-16 and 21-9 in 33 minutes.
• Defeated Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (10), 21-13, 22-24, and 15-12 in 62 minutes.
Laura Giombini/Marta Menegatti, Italy, Seed #9, Pool D, 1-2, 3rd Place, Qualified 8th with 5,300 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period
• Laura: January 4, 1989 (27y7m2d), 183 cm (6'0"), 70 kg (155 lbs.), Hometown Perugia, 55th FIVB World Tour event with $53,313 in career winnings
• Marta: August 16, 1990 (25y11m21d), 180 cm (5'11"), 67 kg (149 lbs.), Hometown Rovigo, 82nd FIVB World Tour event (ranks 88th), one gold medal, $418,325 career winnings (ranks 32nd)
• Laura and Marta are playing in their first FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together.
• Laura has never played in an FIVB World Tour final four. Her best career World Tour finish is a 5th-place with Giulia Momoli in the 2014 Mangaung Open in South Africa.
• Marta has played in 21 FIVB World Tour final fours with one gold, six silver, six bronze medals and eight 4th place finishes.
• Marta finished 5th in the Olympic Games with Greta Cicolari in 2012 (London).
• Laura finished 37th in the FIVB World Championships with Valeria Rosso in 2011 (Rome) and 17th with Daniela Gioria in 2013 (Stare Jablonki).
• Marta finished 9th in the FIVB World Championships in 2011 (Rome), and 5th in 2013 (Stare Jablonki), both with Greta Cicolari and 9th in 2015 (The Hague) with Viktoria Orsi Toth.
• Laura Giombini and Rebecca Perry are currently ranked 59th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 580 points and 50th in winnings with $7,800.
• Laura and Marta have a career 1-2 (33.3%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events, all in 2015-16.
• Marta and Viktoria Orsi Toth are currently ranked 7th in FIVB World Tour points in 2016 with 4,260 points and 13th in winnings with $96,875.
• Marta and Viktoria Orsi Toth have a career 122-78 (61.0%) match record in FIVB World Tour Events and a 73-39 (65.2%) record in 2015-16.
• Marta and Viktoria Orsi Toth won Italy's only FIVB World Tour gold medal.
• Marta and Viktoria Orsi Toth won the silver medal at the U21 World Championships in 2010 (Alanya, Turkey).
• Marta won the silver medal at the U19 World Championships with Gilda Lombardo in 2007 (Myslowice, Poland).
• Marta won the gold medal at the European (CEV) Continental Championships with Greta Cicolari in 2011 (Kristiansand, Norway).
• Marta was named the FIVB World Tour Most Improved Player in 2011.
• Lost to Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas, Canada (16), 21-15, 18-21, and 9-15 in 56 minutes.
• Defeated Doaa Elghobashy /Nada Meawad, Egypt (21), 21-10 and 21-13 in 35 minutes.
• Lost to Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany (4), 18-21, 21-18, and 9-15 in 51 minutes.