Beach Volleyball has been a part of the Olympics since 1996 though the format has changed over time to incorporate rally scoring and a pool stage. This year the competition will be held on the Copacabana Beach. The US qualified all of their teams through the Olympic rankings from the FIVB in June.

The Team:

This year’s team is made up of eight athletes, four men and four women. Four are returners from London with three of those having participated in Beijing as well and Kerri Walsh Jennings is going to her fifth Olympics. Jake Gibb though is the oldest competitor at 40 while Brooke Sweat is the youngest at 30.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

USA Beach Volleyball
Men:
Jake Gibb**
Nick Lucena
Casey Patterson
Phil Dalhausser**

Women:
Lauren Fendrick
April Ross*
Brook Sweat
Kerri Walsh Jennings****
* – Was on team in 2012 – London
** – Was on team in 2012 and 2008 (Beijing)
**** – Was on team in 2012, 2008, 2004 (Athens), and 2000 (Sydney)

Format:

The tournament begins with the teams divided into six four-team pools for round robin play. All the group winners and runner-ups advance along with the top two third-place finishers. The other four third-place finishers get to play in win-or-go home matches. All matches are best of three sets with each set going to 21.

Schedule:

All Times ET
Saturday, August 6th
3:30 PM – Men’s Pool Play – Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson vs. Jefferson Pereira and Cherif Younousse
11 PM – Women’s Pool Play – April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings vs. Mariafe Artacho vs. Nicole Laird

Sunday, August 7th
10 AM – Women’s Pool Play – Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat vs. Monika Brzostek and Kinga Kolosinska
3:30 PM – Men’s Pool Play – Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena vs. Mohamed Arafet Naceur and Choaib Belhaj Salah

Monday, August 8th
3:30 PM – Men’s Pool Play – Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson vs. Alexander Huber and Robin Seidl
11 PM – Women’s Pool Play – April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jennings vs. Wang Fan and Yue Yuan

Tuesday, August 9th
10 AM – Men’s Pool Play – Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena vs. Lombardo Ontiveros/Juan Virgen
3:30 PM – Women’s Pool Play – Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat vs. Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca

Wednesday, August 10th
10 AM – Men’s Pool Play – Jake Gibb and Casey Patterson vs. Adrian Gavira and Pablo Herrera
8 PM – Women’s Pool Play – April Ross and Kerri Walsh Jenningsvs. Isabelle Forrer and Anouk Verge-Depre

Thursday, August 11th
2:30 PM – Women’s Pool Play – Lauren Fendrick and Brooke Sweat vs. Ekaterina Birlova and Evgenia Ukolova
3:30 PM – Men’s Pool Play – Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena vs. Daniele Lupo and Paolo Nicolai
10 PM – Women’s Lucky Loser Matches
11 PM – Men’s Lucky Loser Matches

Friday, August 12th
10/11 AM/6/7 PM – Women’s Round of 16
2/3/10/11 PM – Men’s Round of 16

Saturday, August 13th
10/11 AM/6/7 PM – Women’s Round of 16
2/3/10/11 PM – Men’s Round of 16

Sunday, August 14th
3/4/10/11 PM – Women’s Quarterfinals

Monday, August 15th
3/4/10/11 PM – Men’s Quarterfinals

Tuesday, August 16th
3/10 PM – Women’s Semifinals
4/11 PM – Men’s Semifinals

Wednesday, August 17th
9 PM – Women’s Bronze Medal Match
111 PM – Men’s Bronze Medal Match

Thursday, August 18th
9 PM – Women’s Gold Medal Match
11 PM – Men’s Gold Medal Match

Past Results:

The US has won nine of the 30 medals awarded and six of the 10 golds.  With Brazil having won 11 medals but usually coming up short against the US in the final the duel between the US and the home country could be interesting. Three of the US team members have won medals with Walsh Jennings a three time gold medalist, April Ross a silver medalist from London, and Phil Dalhausser a gold medalist from Beijing.