The London 2012 Games were the end of an era for dynamic beach volleyball duo Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor. Now, in Rio, Walsh Jennings is competing with London Olympics silver medalist April Ross—and already they are making magic.
The team is ranked third in the world by the FIVB (Fédération Internationale de Volleyball) and has been a force to be reckoned with in Rio, with a current standing of 2-0.
Monday night, Ross and Walsh Jennings soundly beat China’s Wang Fan and Yue Yuan, crushing them in a straight sets victory after a slow start. This win came after an easy victory against Australia’s Mariafe Artacho and Nicole Laird on Sunday. The team will advance easily to the knockout stage of the tournament, as expected.
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The two are favorites to medal in Rio, but have quite a few challenges ahead. Ross and Walsh Jennings must face Brazilian all-star Larissa França on her home turf. França won the bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympics and holds a whopping 57 FIVB career gold medals.
Also standing in the way of Walsh Jennings’ fourth consecutive Olympic gold medal is the powerful German duo, Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst. While Ludwig only reached the quarterfinals of the 2012 Summer Olympics, she has four European Championship wins under her belt, making her the best European beach volleyball player in history.
Unlike the American women, the men’s beach volleyball teams are slow out of the gate. Jake Spiker Gibb and Casey Patterson have a mixed record, beating Qatar in the first round before falling to Australia; Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena beat Tunisia fairly easily Sunday, but had a much more difficult match against Mexico on Tuesday.
So while the women’s teams are sure to win one medal, if not two, the fate of the men’s teams is more unsure. The USA men’s national beach volleyball teams have been less dominant in the international competition circuit in recent years.
Despite winning the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Dalhausser fell to ninth place in the 2012 London Olympics. Hopefully the one-time Olympic medalist will have more luck with Lucena, who was named the AVP Best Defensive Player in 2008 and 2014.
And while Gibb is no newcomer to the Olympics (he placed fifth in both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics), Rio will be Patterson’s Olympic debut. The 36-year-old California native has no Olympic competition under his belt, but he does have a total of 15 first-place finishes and the 2013 AVP Best Offensive Player title to his name.
The women’s bronze and gold medal matches will be held on August 17th at 9 pm EST and 11 pm EST, and the men’s matches will be the next day at the same time.
August 8th - Day 3
Beach Volleyball
9:00 am: Women’s preliminary match- Forrer/Verge-Depre (SUI) vs. Artacho Del Solar/Laird (AUS)
10:00 am: Women’s preliminary match- Agatha/Barbara (BRA) vs. Gallay/Klug (ARG)
11:00 am: Men’s preliminary match- Losiak/Kantor (POL) vs. Liamin/Barsouk (RUS)
12:00 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Herrera/Gavira (ESP) vs. Jefferson/Cherif (QAT)
2:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Alison/Bruno Schmidt (BRA) vs. Doppler/Horst (AUT)
3:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Gibb/Patterson (USA) vs. Huber/Seidl (AUT)
4:30 pm: Women’s preliminary match- van Iersel/Meppelink (NED) vs. Cope Charles/Alfaro (CRC)
5:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Brouwer/Meeuwsen (NED) vs. Bockermann/Fluggen (GER)
8:00 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Carambula/Ranghieri (ITA) vs. Binstock/Schachter (CAN)
9:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Elsa/Liliana (ESP) vs. Hermannova/Slukova (CZE)
10:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Bawden/Clancy (AUS) vs. Pazo/Agudo (VEN)
11:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Walsh Jennings/Ross (USA) vs. Wang/Yue (CHN)
August 9th- Day 4
Beach Volleyball
9:00 am: Men’s preliminary match- Pedro Solberg/Evandro (BRA) vs. Schalk/Saxton (CAN)
10:00 am: Men’s preliminary match- Dalhausser/Lucena (USA) vs. Virgen/Ontiveros (MEX)
11:00 am: Women’s preliminary match- Menegatti/Giombini vs. Elghobashy/Nada
12:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Kolosinska/Brzostek (POL) vs. Ukolova/Birlova (RUS)
2:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Samoilovs/Smedins J. (LAT) vs. Diaz/Gonzalez (CUB)
3:30 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Fendrick/Sweat (USA) vs. Larissa/Talita (BRA)
4:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Nummerdor/Varenhorst (NED) vs. Fijalek/Prudel (POL)
5:30 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Ludwig/Walkenhorst (GER) vs. Broder/Valjas (CAN)
8:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Borger/Buthe (GER) vs. Van Gestel/Van De Vlist (NED)
9:00 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Nicolai/Lupo (ITA) vs. Naceur. Ma/Belhaj. C (TUN)
10:00 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Semenov/Krasilnikov (RUS) vs. Grimalt M./Grimalt E. (CHI)
11:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Pavan/Bansley (CAN) vs. Heidrich/Zumkehr (SUI)
August 10th- Day 5
Beach Volleyball
9:00 am: Women’s preliminary match- Meppelink/Van Iersel (NED) vs. Bawden/Clancy (AUS)
10:00 am: Men’s preliminary match- Gibb/Patterson (USA) vs. Herrera/Gavira (ESP)
11:00 am: Men’s preliminary match- Huber/Seidl (AUT) vs. Jefferson/Cherif (QAT)
12:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Wang/Yue (CHN) vs. Artacho Del Solar/Laird (AUS)
2:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Alison/Bruno Schmidt (BRA) vs. Carambula/Ranghieri (ITA)
3:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Brouwer/Meeuwsen (NED) vs. Losiak/Kantor (POL)
4:30 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Agatha/Barbara (BRA) vs. Elsa/Liliana (ESP)
5:30 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Alfaro /C.Charles (CRC) vs. Pazo/Agudo (VEN)
8:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Walsh Jennings/Ross (USA) vs. Forrer/Verge-Depre (SUI)
9:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Gallay/Klug (ARG) vs. Hermannova/Slukova (CZE)
10:00 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Bockermann/Fluggen (GER) vs. Liamin/Barsouk (RUS)
11:00 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Doppler/Horst (AUT) vs. Binstock/Schachter (CAN)
August 11th- Day 6
Beach Volleyball
9:00 am: Women’s preliminary match- Larissa/Talita (BRA) vs. Kolosinska/Brzostek (POL)
10:00 am: Men’s preliminary match- Schalk/Saxton (CAN) vs. Diaz/Gonzalez (CUB)
11:00 am: Men’s preliminary match- Fijalek/Prudel (POL) vs. Grimalt M./Grimalt E. (CHI)
12:00 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Nummerdor/Varenhorst (NED) vs. Semenov/Krasilnikov (RUS)
2:30 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Fendrick/Sweat (USA) vs. Ukolova/Birlova (RUS)
3:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Dalhausser/Lucena (USA) vs. Nicolai/Lupo (ITA)
4:30 pm: Men’s preliminary match- Pedro Solberg/Evandro (BRA) vs. Samoilovs/Smedins J. (LAT)
5:30 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Heidrich/Zumkehr (SUI) vs. van Gestel/Van Der Vlist (NED)
8:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Ludwig/Walkenhorst (GER) vs. Menegatti/Giombini (ITA)
9:00 pm: Women’s preliminary match- Pavan/Bansley (CAN) vs. Borger/Buthe (GER)
10:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball lucky loser match 1
11:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball lucky loser match 2
August 12th- Day 7
Beach Volleyball
10:00 am: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 1
11:00 am: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 2
2:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 3
3:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 4
6:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 5
7:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 6
10:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 7
11:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 8
August 13th- Day 8
Beach Volleyball
10:00 am: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 9
11:00 am: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 10
2:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 11
3:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 12
6:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 13
7:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 14
10:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 15
11:00 pm: Men's or women's beach volleyball Round of 16 match 16
August 14th- Day 9
Beach Volleyball
3:00 pm: Women’s beach volleyball quarterfinal match 1
4:00 pm: Women’s beach volleyball quarterfinal match 2
10:00 pm: Women’s beach volleyball quarterfinal match 3
11:00 pm: Women’s beach volleyball quarterfinal match 4
August 15th- Day 10
Beach Volleyball
3:00 pm: Men’s beach volleyball quarterfinal match 1
4:00 pm: Men’s beach volleyball quarterfinal match 2
10:00 pm: Men’s beach volleyball quarterfinal match 3
11:00 pm: Men’s beach volleyball quarterfinal match 4
August 16th- Day 11
Beach Volleyball
3:00 pm: Women’s or Men’s beach volleyball semifinal match 1
4:00 pm: Women’s or Men’s beach volleyball semifinal match 2
10:00 pm: Women’s or Men’s beach volleyball semifinal match 3
11:00 pm: Women’s or Men’s beach volleyball semifinal match 4
August 17th- Day 12
Beach Volleyball
9:00 pm: Women’s beach volleyball Bronze Medal Match
11:00 pm: Women’s beach volleyball Gold Medal Match
August 18th- Day 13
Beach Volleyball
9:00 pm: Men’s beach volleyball Bronze Medal Match
11:00 pm: Men’s beach volleyball Gold Medal Match
How to Live Stream:
NBCUniversal’s networks and digital platforms will be showing nearly 7,000 hours of programing over 19 days during the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics. NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app will also live stream coverage of the Games for pay TV subscribers via TV Everywhere. You can download the NBC Sports app to your Android TV, Apple TV, Xbox or Roku or use the iOS, Android or Windows Phone apps.
You can also live stream Olympic matches from NBC here.
