Hamburg, Germany, June 29, 2019 - The second-day of action in the 2019 FIVB World Championships presented by comdirect and Aldi Nord will feature the debut matches for reigning 2017 world champions Andre Loyola and Evandro Goncalves as the Brazilians are entered with different partners in this season's event.
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Evandro and Bruno Oscar Schmidt, who captured the 2015 world championship title with Alison Cerutti, will be the first 2017 champion to play here Saturday at 2 p.m. (local time) on the Am Rothenbaum center court as the 16th-seeded Brazilians meet 33rd-seeded Cole Durant/Damien Schumann of Australia in the first-ever FIVB World Tour meeting between the two teams.
Andre, who captured the 2017 world title in Vienna when he and Evandro defeated Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst of Austria for the gold medal, and his 17th-seeded partner George Wanderley will play 32nd-seeded Robin Seidl/Philipp Waller of Austria at 7:15 p.m. on the Rothenbaum center court.
Andre Loyola (left) with Brazilian partner George Wanderley
On the women's side of the competition, Saturday's schedule will see three teams from the United States making their debut at the US$1-million world championships as the trio attempts to erase Friday's 0-2 start for the American women.
First up for the Americans Saturday will be 16th-seeded Kelly Claes/Sarah Sponcil playing 33rd-seeded Russian Olympians Ekaterina Birlova/Evgeniya Ukolova at 10 a.m. followed at 11 a.m. by a match featuring 11th-seeded Sara Hughes/Summer Ross meeting 38th-seeded Ana Gallay/Fernanda Pereyra of Argentina.
The United States' top-ranked team of Alix Klineman/April Ross conclude the schedule for the North American country as the fifth-seeded pair faces a 7 p.m. challenge from Valeria Mendoza/Lolette Rodriguez of Nicaragua.
Ross, a 2009 world champion with Jen Kessy, and Klineman have won three FIVB World Tour events together. Ross, also netted the silver medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games, also placed second at the 2017 Vienna World Championships with Lauren Fendrick.
American April Ross stretching for the Mikasa at an event earlier this season in the Czech Republic
The American dropped their first two matches in upsets Friday as 31st-seeded Joy Stubbe/Marleen Van Iersel of The Netherlands defeated 18th-seeded Brooke Sweat/Kerri Walsh Jennings of the United States 2-1 (21-15, 19-21, 15-9) Friday before hometown favorites and 34th-seeded Maggie Kozuch/Laura Ludwig of Germany downed 15th-seeded Kelley Larsen/Emily Stockman of the United States 2-0 (21-19, 21-15).