Long Beach, Calif., USA, August 20, 2015 - Ageless John Hyden and up-and-coming Tri Bourne continued their winning ways against reigning FIVB world champions Alison Cerutti and Bruno Oscar Schmidt as the Americans posted a three-set win over the Brazilians here Thursday at the US$800,000 ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball.In posting a 2-1 (13-21, 21-15, 15-9) win in 52 minutes, the 18th-seeded Bourne and Hyden clinched the top spot in Pool B to secure a “bye” for the first-round of elimination play Friday. In defeating the second-seeded Alison and Bruno for the third-straight time, the Americans lead the FIVB World Tour series between the two teams 3-2.Thursday’s match was Bourne and Hyden’s first this season against Alison and Bruno with the first two wins in the American streak coming last season in Norway and Poland. The Brazilians won the first two matches at the start of the 2014 FIVB World Tour calendar in China and Russia.After losing the first set to Alison and Bruno, Bourne said his team “found our rhythm in the second set. They are a tough team to play and playing consistently is the key to winning. I am glad we found our groove and getting a bye in the first-round in the elimination bracket is huge.”The 42-year old Hyden, who is the oldest player to win a FIVB World Tour event when he topped the podium last season in Berlin, and Bourne have now defeated the top two-seeded teams in their pool after posting a 2-0 (21-17, 21-19) win in 41 minutes Wednesday over the 15th-seeded Chilean cousins Esteban and Marco Grimalt. The Americans closed out pool play Thursday with a forfeit win over 31st-seeded Andrea Tomatis and Francesco Vanni of Italy, who had lost to both South American teams in Pool B.Other pool winners Thursday to advance to the 24-team elimination bracket with a first-round “bye” are fourth-seeded Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg Brazil (Pool D), fifth-seeded Alexander Brouwer/Robert Meeuwsen of The Netherlands (Pool E), sixth-seeded Aleksandrs Samoilovs/Janis Smedins of Latvia (Pool F), seventh-seeded Emanuel Rego/Ricardo Santos of Brazil(Pool G), eighth-seeded Clemens Doppler/Alexander Horst of Austria (Pool G), 14th-seeded Daniele Lupo/Paolo Nicolai of Italy (Pool C) and 17th-seeded Viacheslav Krasilnikov/Konstantin Semenov of Russia (Pool A).With the women also completing pool play Thursday, Friday’s schedule will feature five elimination rounds. The men will play three rounds with Friday’s schedule ending with four quarter-final matches. The women will play two elimination rounds Friday with their quarter-finals Saturday.Saturday’s schedule concludes with both the men’s and women’s semi-final matches with Sunday’s slate featuring the four medal matches. The winning teams in both genders will split the $57,000 first-place prizes. The ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball is the second of two events in the United States this season that are part of the qualifying process for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.The first 2015 American Olympic qualifier was held in mid-June at St. Petersburg, Fla. Prior to the St. Petersburg Grand Slam, the last Olympic Beach Volleyball qualifying event in the United States was staged in September 2003 at Carson, Calif.Following the ASICS World Series of Beach Volleyball, the final Grand Slam event on the 2015 FIVB World Tour will be played August 25-30 in Olsztyn, Poland. The “test” event for the Rio 2016 Olympics will be staged on September 2-6 at exactly the same location for the Summer Games’ Beach Volleyball competition on Copacabana Beach.Prior to returning to the United States for the SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (September 29-October 4), the international circuit will stage “open” tournaments in Russia (Sochi, September 8-13) and China (Xiamen, September 22-27).