2008 Men’s Post-Season Awards Fédération Internationale de Volleyball [email protected] Telephone +41-21 345 35 35 Harley Headlines Men’s 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour Award Recipients Lausanne, Switzerland, November 20, 2008 - Led by Brazilian Harley Marques, the top men’s players on the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour were announced here Wednesday based on the results of the voting by SWATCH representatives, players, coaches, referees and officials associated with the international Beach Volleyball circuit. Winner of seven gold medals this season with two different partners, Harley was recognized as the SWATCH Most Outstanding Player for 2008 season at the year’s last double gender event in China this past weekend in Sanya. The women’s post-season awards will be announced next week. The men’s SWATCH Most Outstanding Player was selected byrepresentatives from SWATCH and the Federation Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB), who also selected Igor Kolodinsky as the SWATCH top server for the 2008 season as the Russian recorded a record serve of 114.0 km/h. Harley teamed with Pedro Salgado to clinch the SWATCH team-of-the-year award by capturing the 2008 point’s championship at a mid-September event in Guarujà, Brazil. After winning six gold medals in 2008 with Salgado, Harley ended the campaign capturing the season-ending event in Sanya with Benjamin Insfran. “It is always an honor to be recognized as the top player,” said the 34-year old Harley. “This honor helps in easing my failure with Pedro to qualify for the Olympics. However, we did accomplish a lot in winning six events together this season to finish as the top team on the SWATCH tour. I am also pleased that I was able to finish the season with another gold medal placement with Benjamin. Although finishing as the third-ranked men’s team from Brazil on the Olympic qualifying list to miss a spot by 220 points, Harley and Salgado posted six gold medal finishes during the Beijing process and added three more titles after the rosters were set for the Asian capital Games. For the 2008 season, Harley and Salgado had seven podium placements, 11 “final four” appearances, a 77-24 match mark and US$293,600 in earnings for 18 events. The SWATCH most outstanding player at 2008 events in Australia (Adelaide), China (Shanghai), Italy (Roseto degli Abruzzi) and Brazil (Guarujà), Harley ranks eighth all-time in gold medals (13) and 16th in earnings ($513,413) in the 22-year history of the men's tour. In completing his seventh full-season on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour, Harley has compiled 23 podium placements, 34 “final four” appearances for 94 international events. In addition to winning FIVB titles with Salgado (nine) and Benjamin (two), Harley captured his first two SWATCH gold medals with Para Ferreira and Franco Neto at 2002 and 2003 events in Berlin. Harley has a 340-148 career record with nine different teammates. The unanimous pick as the 2007 SWATCH rookie-of-the-year, Kolodinsky posted 64 of the 67 “good” center court serves over 100.0 km/h this season. The Russian had the top 53 centre court serves this season with only China’sLinyin Xu (104.0 and 103.5) and Germany’s Julius Brink (104.0) breaking the Kolodinsky’s string. Château Les Tourelles, Edouard-Sandoz 2-4, 1006 Lausanne, Switzerland Page 1 of 4 FIVB Communication FAX Telephone: +41 21 345 35.45 For more Beach Volleyball news visit www.fivb.org 2008 Men’s Post-Season Awards Fédération Internationale de Volleyball [email protected] Telephone +41-21 345 35 35 Harley Headlines Men’s 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour Award Recipients Page 2 France’s Andy Ces was named the most improved player on the 2008 FIVB tour as he and his brother (Kevin) became the first French team in 12 years to advance to a SWATCH “final four” and the first tandem from their country to medal at an event since 1994. The Ces brothers were the 13th- ranked team on the 2008 SWATCH FIVB World Tour. Adrian Gavira Collado of Spain was honored as the 2008 rookie-of-the-year as he and Inocencio Lario were the 30th-ranked team on the international circuit. The 21-year old Gavira and Lario also became the first team from their country to compete for a SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medal after advancing to the finals at June’s Polish stop in Stare Jablonki where the Spaniards dropped the title match to Athens 2004 Olympic champions Emanuel Rego and Ricardo Santos of Brazil. Beijing 2008 Olympic gold medal finalists Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States and Marcio Araujo of Brazil combined to win the remaining seven awards. Dalhausser and Rogers, the reigning SWATCH-FIVB World champions, defeated Marico Araujo and Fabio Magalhaes in three sets to capture the Summer Games gold medal where Emanuel and Ricardo placed third. Dalhausser was named the sportsman-of-the-year in 2008 along with being honored as top hitter, best blocker and best offensive player. Dalhausser was also the No. 2 vote-getter behind Marcio Araujo as the best setter. Rogers was recognized as the most inspirational and best defensive player. Dalhausser was named the top SWATCH blocker for the third-straight season while being named the best hitter for the second-consecutive year. Dalhausser also won the SWATCH FIVB World Tour’s most improved player in 2006. Rogers has been honored as the SWATCH FIVB World Tour’stop defender the past three seasons, including tying for the award in 2006 with Argentina’s Martin Conde. Marcio Araujo has now won the best setter award for three-straight seasons as he tied Rogers for the award in 2006. Marcio Araujo was also the tour’s top defender in 2005. Three of the women’s SWATCH FIVB World Tour awards have been determined with the other honors to be announced next week. Misty May-Treanor of the United States and China’s Xi Zhang tied for the SWATCH most outstanding player award as each player won three event MOPs during the 2008 season. The most outstanding player at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games after winning the Summer Games title for the second time with Kerri Walsh, May-Treanor was also the 2005 SWATCH FIVB World Tour most outstanding player. Brazilians capture the other two awards as Shelda Bede and Ana Paula Connelly clinched the SWATCH team-of-the-year award by capturing the 2008 point’s championship. Maria Clara Salgado was honored as the top server with a SWATCH FIVB World Tour season-best mark of .86.0 km/h. Château Les Tourelles, Edouard-Sandoz 2-4, 1006 Lausanne, Switzerland Page 2 of 4 FIVB Communication FAX Telephone: +41 21 345 35.45 For more Beach Volleyball news visit www.fivb.org 2008 Men’s Post-Season Awards Fédération Internationale de Volleyball [email protected] Telephone +41-21 345 35 35 2008 SWATCH-FIVB World Tour Men’s Post-Season Awards Most Improved Player Best Defensive Player 1, Andy Ces, France 1, Todd Rogers, United States 2, Pedro Salgado, Brazil 2, Sean Rosenthal, United States 2, Jan Schnider, Switzerland 3, Reinder Nummerdor, Netherlands 4, Mischa Urbatzka , Germany 4, Marcio Araujo, Brazil Also receiving votes - Linyin Xu, China, Emiel Boersma, Netherlands, 4, Jason Lochhead, New Zealand Reinder Nummerdor, Netherlands, Florian Gosch, Austria, Bram Ronnes, Also receiving votes - David Klemperer, Germany, Kristjan Kais, Netherlands, Casey Jennings, United States, Alexander Horst, Austria, Estonia, Emanuel Rego, Brazil, Julius Brink, Germany, Alexander Horst, Alexander Huber, Austria, Robert Nowotny, Austria, Alison Cerutti, Brazil, Austria, Robert Nowotny, Austria, Harley Marques, Brazil, Kevin Ces, Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, Kevin Ces, France, Julius Brink, Germany, France, Jorge "Gia" Terceiro, Georgia. Stefan Uhmann, Germany, Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Latvia, Martin Plavins, Latvia, Jason Lochhead, New Zealand, Adrian Gavira, Spain, Inocencio Lario, Spain, Matt Fuerbringer, United States, Phil Dalhausser, United Best Offensive Player States. 1, Phil Dalhausser, United States 2, Pedro Salgado, Brazil Most Inspirational 3, Ricardo Santos, Brazil 1, Todd Rogers, United States 4, Igor Kolodinsky, Russia 2, Franco Neto, Brazil Also receiving votes - Reinder Nummerdor, Netherlands, Linyin Xu, 2, Emanuel Rego, Brazil China, Richard Schuil, Netherlands, Emanuel Rego, Brazil, Pablo Herrera, Spain, Todd Rogers, United States, Clemens Doppler, Austria, Harley 4, Sean Rosenthal, United States Marques, Brazil, Pedro Salgado, Brazil, Penggen Wu, China, Julius Brink, Also receiving votes - Harley Marques, Brazil, Phil Dalhausser, United Germany, Mischa Urbatzka , Germany, Dmitri Barsouk, Russia. States, Pedro Salgado, Brazil, Julius Brink, Germany, Casey Jennings, United States, Emanuel Fernandes, Angola, Morais Abreu, Angola, Mariano Baracetti, Argentina, Florian Gosch, Austria, Niklos Berger, Best Blocker Austria, Marcio Araujo, Brazil, Ricardo Santos, Brazil, Mark Heese, 1, Phil Dalhausser, United States Canada, Kristjan Kais, Estonia, David Klemperer, Germany, Richard 2, Pedro Salgado, Brazil Schuil, Netherlands, Jason Lochhead, New Zealand, Jake Gibb, United 3, Ricardo Santos, Brazil States. 3, Jonas Reckermann, Germany Also receiving votes - Florian Gosch, Austria, Christoph Dieckmann, Rookie of the Year Germany, Richard Schuil, Netherlands, Matt Fuerbringer, United States, 1, Adrian Gavira Collado, Spain Linyin Xu, China, Pablo Herrera, Spain, Fabio Magalhaes, Brazil, 2, Grzegorz Fijalek, Poland Penggen Wu, China, Eric Koreng, Germany, Niklos Berger, Austria, 3, Stefan Uhmann, Germany Patrick Heuscher, Switzerland, Andy Ces, France. 3, Mariusz Prudel, Poland Also receiving votes - Bruno Oscar Schmidt, Brazil, Inocencio Lario, Best Setter Spain, Joao Maciel, Brazil, Andy Ces, France, Jorge "Gia" Terceiro, 1, Marcio Aruajo, Brazil Georgia, Pablo Nicolai, Italy, Alison Cerutti, Brazil, Franco Neto, Brazil, 2, Phil Dalhausser, United States Renato "Geor" Gomes, Georgia, Sebastian Dollinger, Germany, 3, Igor Kolodinsky, Russia Aleksandrs Samoilovs, Latvia, Martin Plavins, Latvia, Jorre Kjemperud, Norway, Jakub Szalankiewicz, Poland.