Germany and Switzerland start off the night session on day two

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 6, 2016 – Germany’s #8 seed, Karla Borger/Britta Buthe starts off the night session on day two with a pool E match against Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich/Nadine Zumkehr.  Zumkehr will be looking to improve on her 9th-place finish in London (2012), while the three other players will be making the Olympic Games debut.

Head to Head

Borger/Buthe lead the series 3-1 on the FIVB World Tour, including a straight set 21-18 and 21-19 in their only meeting in 2016 in pool play at the Gstaad Major last month.  The two pairs first met in June, 2014 at the Berlin Grand Slam in the round of 16 with the Germans winning in straight sets.  Their other two matches were both in pool play and both required a third set with Borger/Buthe winning at the Gstaad Grand Slam in July, 2014, 18-21, 21-18, and 15-13 and Heidrich/Zumkehr winning at the Yokohama Grand Slam in July, 2015, 21-19, 16-21, and 15-13.

Historically the #8 seed has won all five matches, one each in the five previous Olympic Games, against the #17 seed. Teams from Germany have been the #8 seed in the last four Olympics, Ulrike Schmidt/Gudi Staub in Sydney (2000), Stephanie Pohl/Okka Rau in Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), and Sara Goller Niedrig/Laura Ludwig in London (2012).  The closest match was in London where Neidrig/Ludwig defeated Australia’s Louise Bawden/Becchara Palmer, 21-18, 19-21, and 15-8 in 53 minutes.  In sideout scoring at the Atlanta Olympics (1996), Japan’s Sachiko Fujita/Yukiko Takahashi shut out Indonesia’s Eta Kaize/Timy Yudhani Rahayu, 15-0 in 18 minutes.

Karla Borger/Britta Buthe, Germany, Seed #8, Pool E, Qualified 9th with 5,260 Points in the 2015-16 Olympic qualification period

• Karla: November 22, 1988 (27y8m15d), 180 cm (5’11”), 68 kg (151 lbs.), Hometown Heppenheim, 73rd FIVB World Tour event, one gold medal, $302,450 career winnings (ranks 54th)

• Britta: May 25, 1988 (28y2m12d), 185 cm (6’1″), 78 kg (173 lbs.), Hometown Dearborn, 65th FIVB World Tour event, one gold medal, $296,900 career winnings (ranks 56th)

• Karla and Britta have been playing together since 2010. They are playing in their 64th FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour tournament together (ranks …

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