Americans, Aussies & Spaniards Secure Women's Pool Titles

Led by April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States, three teams secured pool titles here Wednesday in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games’ women’s Beach Volleyball competition with three more group crowns to be determined Thursday.

Joining the Americans (Pool C) in posting 3-0 group records Wednesday were Elsa Baquerizo/Liliana Fernandez of Spain (Pool B) and Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy of Australia (Pool F) as the two teams defeated the top-ranked pairs in their groups from Brazil and The Netherlands, respectively.

Ross and Walsh Jennings were the last of the three pool winners Wednesday to secure group crowns as the Americans scored a 2-1 (21-13, 22-24, 15-12) win in 65 minutes over Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland to maintain their third-seeding when the 16-team elimination bracket is played Friday and Saturday.

Elsa and Liliana stunned 2015 FIVB world champions Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas of Brazil 2-0 (21-17, 22-20) in 44 minutes to become the second-seeded team in elimination bracket. Bawden and Clancy’s 2-1 (27-25, 18-21, 16-14) win in 60 minutes over Madelein Meppelink and Marleen Van Iersel of the Netherlands netted the Aussies the No. 6 seed.

Women’s Pools A, D and E will be decided Thursday. In Pool A, two unbeaten pairs will compete for the group title as Monika Brzostek and Kinga Kolosinska of Poland challenge Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca of Brazil with the winner assuming the No. 1 seed in the elimination bracket.

Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany (Pool D) and Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan of Canada (Pool E) will be looking to secure the fourth and fifth seeds in the knockout rounds, respectively. With both teams looking for their third-straight group victory, the Germans play Laura Giombini/Marta Menegatti of Italy while the Canadians are challenged by Karla Borger/Britta Buthe of Germany.

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