Lausanne, Switzerland, December 25, 2016 – Brazil’s Bruno Oscar Schmidt became only the fourth player to win back-to-back awards as the most outstanding player on the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) World Tour as the was honoured for the second-straight season as the men’s FIVB most outstanding player for the 2016 FIVB international beach volleyball season.
The 30-year-old Bruno joined USA’s Phil Dalhausser (2013 and 2014), USA’s Kerri Walsh Jennings (2012, 2013 and 2014) and Brazilian compatriot Juliana Felisberta (2009, 2010 and 2011) as the only players to win consecutive FIVB most outstanding player honours since the award was initiated in 2005.
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Latest VideosFacebookTwitterInstagramMedia Guides In addition to be named the top male performer for this year’s FIVB World Tour that started in October 2015 in Mexico and ended in September 2016 in Canada at the Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals in Toronto, Bruno was also named the FIVB best defensive player and sportsman of the year in the voting by players, coaches, referees and FIVB officials.
Bruno now joins American Todd Rogers in winning the best defensive award four times as the Brazilian has been voted the best defender for the past four seasons. Rogers, who announced his retirement earlier this season after playing 19 seasons on the international circuit, was the top FIVB defender for the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010 seasons.
The sportsman of the year honour was the second straight for Bruno, who was also the FIVB’s most improved player in 2010 and the top offensive player for the 2015 season. Overall, Bruno has now collected 10 awards to become the sixth player to reach double digits in total FIVB post-season honours. The others are USA’s Phil Dalhausser (26), Kerri Walsh Jennings (25) and Misty May-Treanor (13), and Brazilians Larissa Franca (16), Emanuel Rego (11) and Juliana Felisberta (10).
Dalhausser’s 26th honour was as the FIVB’s top setter for the 2015-2016 season. It marked the third-straight season and seventh time overall (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2015-2016) that the American has been recognised as the top setter. Dalhausser has also been named the FIVB most outstanding player (2010, 2013 and 2014), best blocker (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2004), best offensive player (2008, 2009 and 2010), best hitter (2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010), best server (2014), most improved (2006) and sportsman (2008).
Alison Cerutti, who teamed with Bruno to win the gold medals at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and 2016 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals, was named the men’s circuit’s top hitter after winning the award in 2011 and 2012. It was Alison’s seventh post-season award overall as he has been named the tour’s top blocker (2011 and 2015), best offensive player (2011) and most improved (2009).
After winning their second straight Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals gold medal September 18, Alison/Bruno ended the 2016 FIVB international season with four gold medals in nine events with six appearances in finals, seven final four appearances, a 48-8 match mark and US$306,000 in earnings. In addition to their Olympic and Swatch Finals titles, Alison/Bruno also topped FIVB World Tour podiums in Vitoria (Brazil) and Porec (Croatia) this season. Alison/Bruno also won the 2015 FIVB World Championships in the Netherlands.
In only three seasons together on the FIVB World Tour, Bruno and Alison have captured 11 gold medals in 31 international starts with 15 appearances in finals, 16 podium placements, 20 “final four” finishes, a 156-38 match mark (80.4 winning percentage) with $992,500 in earnings to rank 12th among men’s and women’s teams all-time in winnings.
Other Brazilians winning post-season awards for the 2016 FIVB World Tour were Evandro Goncalves for best server and Gustavo “Guto” Carvalhaes as rookie of the year. Evandro won the serving award for the second straight season while Guto becomes the second Brazil to win the rookie honour joining compatriot Alvaro Filho in winning the award.
Other award winners were Paolo Nicolai of Italy as the best blocker, Janis Smedins of Latvia as the best offensive player, Piotr Kantor of Poland as the most improved and Reinder Nummerdor of the Netherlands as the most inspirational. While Kantor was a first-time award winner, Smedins was honoured for the sixth-time with a post-season accolade, and Nicolai and Nummerdor for the third time each.
Smedins was also the FIVB World Tour’s best offensive player in 2013 while being the best setter (2013), best hitter (2013 and 2014) and sportsman (2013). Nicolai was the most improved player in 2012 and best offensive player in 2014. Nummerdor was named the best defensive player in 2009 and 2011. Samoilovs/J. Smedins also finished the season as the 2016 FIVB World Tour point champions.
Men's points/earningsAfter 22 men’s exhaustive events on the 2016 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour regular season, Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins won their third FIVB World Tour season point championship in the last three years. In the final 2016 regular season standings Latvia’s Samoilovs/J. Smedins have finished the season with 5,910 points in 14 events while USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena finished second with 5,790 points in just 12 events. Third was Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak with 5,240 points, fourth was Italy’s Alex Ranghieri/Adrian Carambula with 5,060 points and fifth was USA’s John Hyden/Tri Bourne with 4,950 points.
Sixth was Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen with 4,910 points while seventh was Brazil’s Pedro Solberg/Evandro Goncalves with 4,690, eighth was USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson with 4,300 points, ninth was Poland’s Mariusz Prudel/Grzegorz Fijalek with 4,400 points and 10th was Canada’s Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk with 4,400 points.
In the final 2016 FIVB World Tour men’s earnings after 23 events, Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt finished on top of the money list with $306,000 in just nine events with four gold medals. Second was Brazil’s Pedro Solberg/Evandro Goncalves with $273,000 in 11 events with two gold medals, third was Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins with $258,875 in 15 events with three gold medals, fourth was USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena with $240,000 in 13 events with four gold medals and fifth was Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak with $165,750 in 16 events and one gold medal.
Sixth in prize money earnings was the Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen with $155,875 in 11 events, seventh was Canada’s Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk with $146,375 in 15 events, eighth was Brazil’s Saymon Barbosa/Gustavo Carvalhaes with $132,375 in 11 events with one gold medal, ninth was USA’s Jake Gibb/Casey Patterson with $131,125 in 13 events and 10th was Spain’s Pablo Herrera/Adrian Gavira with $123,375 in 12 events with one gold medal.
Men's final foursAfter 23 men’s tournaments on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar, 16 countries had at least one final four placement. Winner with 18 final four placements was Brazil (eight gold medals, six silver, two bronze, two fourth place finishes), second with 15 final fours was the United States (four gold medals, four silver medals, four bronze medals, three fourth place finishes). Third with nine final four finishes was Italy (three gold medals, three silver medals, three fourth place finishes), fourth with eight final four placements was Latvia (three gold medals, three bronze medals, two fourth places) and fifth with seven final fours was Poland (one gold medal, four bronze medals, two fourth places).
Tied for sixth with six final four placements each were Germany (one gold medal, two silver medals, one bronze medal, two fourth places), and the Netherlands (one gold medal, two silver medals, three bronze medals) and eighth with five final fours was Russia (two silver medals, one bronze medal, two fourth place finishes). Tied for ninth with three final fours each were Canada (one silver medal, one bronze medal, one fourth place), Mexico (one silver medal, two bronze medals) and Spain (one gold medal, one bronze medal, one fourth place finish). Tied for 11th with two final fours each were Austria (two silver medals) and Chile (two fourth places). Tied for 14th with one final four finish each was France (one fourth place), Greece (one fourth place) and Qatar (one gold medal).
Men's winning percentage/match winsBased on percentage, statistically, in men’s action in 23 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour calendar with a minimum of 39 matches played, the winner at 85.7% was Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (48-8), second at 82.7% was USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (67-14), third at 72.6% was Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins (61-23), fourth at 72.1% wass Brazil’s Gustavo Carvalhaes/Saymon Barbosa (49-19) and fifth at 70.5% was Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (45-18).
Sixth at 70.5% was Spain’s Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera (43-18), seventh at 69.4% was Brazil’s Pedro Solberg/Evandro Goncalves (43-19), eighth at 68.4% was Italy’s Paolo Nicolai/Daniele Lupo (39-18), ninth at 67.0% was Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (59-29) and at 10th at 66.7% was Russia’s Konstantin Semenov/Viacheslav Krasilnikov (36-18).
With 67 match wins this season after the 23 events on the 2016 FIVB World Tour, winning this category was USA’s Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena (67-14), second with 61 match wins was Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins (61-23) , third with 59 match wins wass Poland’s Piotr Kantor/Bartosz Losiak (59-29), fourth with 55 match wins is Italy’s Adrian Carambula/Alex Ranghieri (55-29) and fifth with 53 match wins was Mexico’s Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgin (53-30).
Sixth with 51 match wins was USA’s Tri Bourne/John Hyden (51-35), seventh with 49 match wins was Brazil’s Saymon Santos/Gustavo Carvalhaes (49-19), eighth with 48 wins was Brazil’s Alison Cerutti/Bruno Oscar Schmidt (48-8), ninth with 45 match wins is Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen (45-18), and 10th with 44 match wins each were Canada’s Ben Saxton/Chaim Schalk (44-29), Poland’s Grzegorz Fijalek/Mariusz Prudel (44-29) andLatvia’s Martins Plavins/Haralds Regza (44-34).
Rio 2016 Olympic GamesFrom August 6-17 all eyes were on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which hosted the spectacular 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Adding the crown jewel of the sport to their rapidly increasingly accomplishments, Brazil’s Alison/Bruno won the gold medal on Copacabana Beach while Italy’s Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai earned the silver medal. Capturing the bronze medal in Rio was the Netherlands’ Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen while finishing in fourth place was Russia’s Ciacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov.
Growing historyThe $500,000 Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals in Canada that concluded the 2016 season was the 351st men’s tournament since the FIVB began play in 1987 and the 312th FIVB women’s tournament since their competition started in 1992.