Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 12, 2016 - With Ekaterina Birlova and Evgeniya Ukolova playing their third match in a 27 hour period, Spain’s Elsa Baquerizo and Liliana Fernandez appeared to have the advantage heading into their “Sweet 16” match here Friday evening with the Russians in the Beach Volleyball competition at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.Playing instead of resting served the Russians better as Birlova and Ukolova posted a 2-0 (23-21, 24-22) win in 50 minutes over Elsa and Liliana to advance to the quarter-finals to meet reigning FIVB world champions Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas of Brazil. Playing in the first of eight matches Friday, Agatha and Barbara posted a 2-0 (21-12, 21-16) win in 42 minutes to eliminate Fan Wang and Yuan Yue of China.With both teams appearing in their second-straight Olympics after both placed ninth at the London 2012 Summer Games, Birlova and Ukolova tied the series with the Spaniards at 2-2. Friday’s match was the first meeting in the series since late May 2015 when Elsa and Liliana defeated the Russians in the Moscow Grand Slam.Coupled with a 2-0 (21-13, 21-13) win in 32 minutes earlier in the day by Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Konstantin Semenov over Jefferson Santos Pereira and Cherif Younousse of Qatar, Russia is now guaranteed a fifth-place in both the men’s and women competition at the Rio Games to mark the country’s best-ever finishes for both genders in the Olympics. Elsa and Liliana took an early lead in the first set at 10-6 before the Russians mounted a 4-0 run to tie the set. After a 12-12 deadlock, Birlova and Ukolova gained controlled until the Spaniards tied the set at 18s, 19s, 20s and 21s. An Ukolova attack and a Spanish error won the first set for Russia.In the second set, the Russians controlled the lead until Elsa and Liliana scored three-straight points to take a 19-18 lead. Birlova and Ukolova tied the set at 19s and 20s and regained the edge at 21-20. Two more ties set the stage for the final two points where Ukolova had a service winner and the Spanish hitting error ended the set in the Russians favor.With the 12-000-seat “Coliseu on Copacabana” the happening place to be at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Friday’s second women’s featured women’s gold medal favorites Talita Antunes and Larissa Franca as the Brazilians scored a 2-0 (21-17, 2-19) win in 39 minutes to oust Karla Borger and Britta Buthe of Germany from the competition.Here are the other women’s Round of 16 matches to be played.Friday, August 12Midnight - April Ross/Kerri Walsh Jennings, United States (3) vs. Laura Giombini/Marta Menegatti, Italy (9)
Saturday, August 1312 p.m. - Heather Bansley/Sarah Pavan, Canada (5) vs. Jamie Broder/Kristina Valjas, Canada (16)3 p.m. - Isabelle Forrer/Anouk Verge-Depre, Switzerland (10) vs. Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst, Germany (4)8 p.m. - Madelein Meppelink/Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands (6) vs. Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr, Switzerland (17)11 p.m. - Monika Brzostek/Kinga Kolosinska, Poland (12) vs. Louise Bawden/Taliqua Clancy, Australia (7)