Fort Lauderdale, USA, February 10, 2017 - While the women play two rounds of elimination here Friday with 16 matches slated at the $600,000 Fort Lauderdale Major, the men’s 12-match schedule will be highlighted by the late afternoon and early evening quarterfinals.
The opening event on the 2017 FIVB World Tour calendar, the Fort Lauderdale Major enters the weekend with 16 men’s and 24 women’s teams still in contention for the $50,000 first-place prizes per gender. The men’s semifinal and medal matches will be staged Saturday followed by the women’s final four matches Sunday at Fort Lauderdale Beach Park.
Women’s first-round elimination action will open play Friday morning followed by the men’s 'Sweet 16' matches where nine countries are still in contention for the gold medal. Here is the women’s and men’s opening schedule Friday.
Women
• Ekaterina Birlova/Nadezda Makroguzova Russia (No. 26-seeded team) v Joana Heidrich/Anouk Verge-Depre Switzerland (6);
• Lauren Fendrick/Sara Hughes United States (18) v Karla Borger/Margareta Kozuch Germany (23);
• Josemari Alves/Liliane Maestrini Brazil (14) v Sandra Ittlinger/Teresa Mersmann Germany (29);
• Brittany Hochevar/Emily Day United States (28) v Joy Stubbe/Jolien Sinnema Netherlands (31);
• Evgeniya Ukolova/Anastasia Barsuk Russia (24) v Kelly Claes/Kelly Reeves United States (30);
• Kristyna Kolocova/Michala Kvapilova Czech Republic (22) v Taru Lahti/Anniina Parkkinen Finland (17);
• Barbara Seixas/Fernanda Alves Brazil (16) v Katharina Schutzenhofer/Stefanie Schwaiger Austria (25);
• Kira Walkenhorst/Julia Grossner Germany (4) v Sophie van Gestel/Madelein Meppelink Netherlands (12).
Men
• Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena, United States (No. 1-seeded team) v Markus Bockermann/Lars Fluggen, Germany (19);
• Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak, Poland (5) v Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil (3);
• Jake Gibb/Taylor Crabb, United States (11) v Sam Pedlow/Sam Schachter, Canada (12);
• Theo Brunner/Casey Patterson, United States (14) v Evandro Goncalves/Andre Loyola, Brazil (8);
• Grzegorz Fijalek/Michal Bryl, Poland (13) v Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira, Spain (6);
• Alvaro Filho/Saymon Barbosa, Brazil (9) v Nico Beeler/Marco Krattiger, Switzerland (29);
• Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo, Italy (10) v Michael Plantinga/Grant O'Gorman, Canada (21);
• Nikita Liamin/Viacheslav Krasilnikov, Russia (15) v John Hyden/Ryan Doherty, United States (24).
The women’s 'Sweet 16' matches will be played Friday afternoon along with the men’s 'Elite 8' contests.