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Olympics beach volleyball results: August 7

By Nathaniel Reeves

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 07: Phil Dalhausser of the United States high fives teammate Nicholas Lucena during the Men's Beach Volleyball preliminary round Pool C match against Mohamed Arafat Naceur and Choaib Belhaj Salah of Tunisia on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Beach Volleyball Arena on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 07: Phil Dalhausser of the United States high fives teammate Nicholas Lucena during the Men's Beach Volleyball preliminary round Pool C match against Mohamed Arafat Naceur and Choaib Belhaj Salah of Tunisia on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Beach Volleyball Arena on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images) /
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Recapping a busy day of beach volleyball at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

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Day 2 of the 2016 Rio Olympics featured a loaded slate of beach volleyball, with six matches each in the men’s and women’s tournaments.

After a strong start to the beach volleyball tournament, Team USA had a bit of a stumble on Sunday. Brooke Sweat and Lauren Fendrick took the first set against Kinga Kolosinska and Monika Brzostek, but the Polish squad stormed back with easy 21-13, 15-7 victories in the second and third.

Team USA bounced back in the men’s tournament behind Beijing gold medalist Phil Dalhausser. Playing with new partner Nick Lucena, the Americans dominated their match against Tunisia 21-7, 21-13 and look to be in contention for a medal early on.

Sunday’s slate started with medal favorites Larissa Franca and Talita Antunes of Brazil taking on a squad from Russia. The hosts managed five aces in the first set and cruised to a 21-14, 21-16 victory to open their tournament.

The hometown fans were also treated to the most exciting match of the day between Pedro Solberg and Evandro Goncalves and Nivaldo Diaz and Sergio Gonzalez of Cuba. Cuba won a back-and-forth first set 24-22, but Brazil responded with narrow victories in the second and third in front of a raucous crowd.

Day 2’s biggest upset came from Juan Virgen and Lambardo Ontiveros, the first Mexican squad to qualify for the beach volleyball tournament in 16 years. After the duo dropped the first set to Italian Olympic veterans Poalo Nicolai and Daniele Lupo, Virgen and Ontiveros dominated the second and put Italy away with a 15-11 victory in the third.

Fifth-ranked Reinder Nummerdor, who is in his fifth Olympics, and Christaan Varenhorst of the Netherlands easily dispatched their opponents from Chile. The Dutch couldn’t complete the sweep for the day, as Jantine van der Vlist and Sophie van Gestel lost in straight sets to Canadian medal hopefuls Sarah Pavan and Heather Bansley.

Germany’s hopes for a medal got off to a good start, as Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst easily swept a team from Egypt. Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich and Nadine Zumkehr defeated the other German women’s squad of Karla Borger and Britta Buthe in straight sets.

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Despite forming as a duo just a week ago due to a previous player being suspended, Italy’s Marta Menegatti and Luara Giombini were able to take the first set from their Canadian opponents. Jamie Broder and Kristina Valijas were able to rally and win the last two sets 21-18, 15-9.

Russia’s Konstantin Semeov and Vyacheslev Krasilnikov swept a team from Poland, while Latvia’s Aleksandrs Samoilovs and Janis Smedins staged a furious comeback in the third set after being down 11-9 to wrap up the day.

For more Rio beach volleyball coverage, check out our Olympics hub page. 

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