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6 Takeaways From The Moscow Grand Slam

6 Takeaways From The Moscow Grand Slam

The FIVB World Tour rolled through Moscow this past week for the first of six big time tournaments leading into the 2016 Olympics. Here are six takeaways.

May 30, 2016 by FloVolleyball Staff
6 Takeaways From The Moscow Grand Slam
By Jon Ackerman

The FIVB World Tour rolled through Moscow this past week for the first of six big time tournaments leading into the 2016 Olympics. The event also served as the penultimate Olympic qualifier. Just the Hamburg Major Series tournament (June 7-12) remains for teams to boost their Olympic ranking.

Here are six takeaways from the Moscow Grand Slam:

1. Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross are officially No. 1. The top American duo of Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross secured the Moscow gold, their third such medal in their past three appearances on the World Tour (and fourth consecutive win if we include the AVP Tour). That makes four victories in six international tournaments this season, moving them to No. 1 in the season's world rankings.

They won't be the top seed at the Rio Games, though. Walsh Jennings and Ross' latest win moves them up to No. 3 in the provisional Olympic rankings, from which Olympic seeds are determined. But with just one qualifier left, they're unable to climb any higher. Yet considering they began the year 22nd in those rankings, they'll be just fine with the third seed.


2. Brazil will be Nos. 1 and 2 in Rio. In winning the Moscow title, Walsh Jennings and Ross defeated Brazil's Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes, the No. 1-ranked team in the Olympic rankings. It marked the American duo's first time defeating that Brazilian pair. Walsh Jennings and Ross took the match in straight sets (22-20, 21-17) after never previously taking a set from Larissa and Talita. As of now, these are the two duos favored to meet in the Olympic gold-medal match.

Despite the defeat, the Brazilians maintained their top spot in the Olympic rankings, and compatriots Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas stayed at No. 2. 

3. Gibb and Patterson are Rio-bound. No U.S. men earned medals in Moscow, but they did book their berths to Rio. Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson finished fourth, which comes with 560 qualifying points. That gives them enough separation from the third-ranked U.S. men's team (Tri Bourne and John Hyden) to officially claim their spot in the Games. Gibb and Patterson sit sixth in the men's Olympic rankings. And so ends the 43-year-old Hyden's bid to become the oldest man to qualify for Olympic beach volleyball.


4. Dalhausser and Lucena are Rio-bound. The top-ranked American men's pair of Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena didn't fare so well in Moscow, placing a disappointing 17th. But it counts as the duo's 12th event (the minimum needed) during the Olympic qualification period, so they too can book flights to Rio. Dalhausser and Lucena are fifth in the Olympic rankings.

5. Second U.S. women's team to be determined soon. The final U.S. beach volleyball team going to Rio won't be known until the World Tour gets to Hamburg. Lauren Fendrick and Brook Sweat hold a 490-point lead over Jen Kessy and Emily Day. According to these calculations, that means Kessy and Day need to reach the Hamburg final for a chance at Rio. 

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6. Netherlands comeback has nation on solid Olympic footing. The performance of the weekend came from the Dutch duo of Reinder Nummerdor and Christiaan Varenhorst. They faced the top-seeded Brazilian pair of Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt in the men's final, a rematch of the 2015 World Championships final. 

Nummerdor and Varenhorst were completely demolished in the second game, 21-7. Luckily, they won the first set, so the match went to a third. And the Netherlands appeared finished when they reached a 14-11 deficit. But they saved match point, then did it again, and then did it again. Moments later they stole a 17-15 win and the gold medal.

The victory moved Nummerdor and Varenhorst up to fourth in the Olympic rankings, one spot behind compatriots Alexander Brouwer and Robert Meeuwsen. It's not often one Dutch team is ranked ahead of an American team, let alone two. But the Netherlands sits in good position to claim its first Olympic beach volleyball medal.