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Published: October 05 2015

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – The Swatch Beach Volleyball FIVB World Tour Finals treated tens of thousands of fans to the best beach volleyball seen anywhere on the planet. The tournament climaxed with today’s medal matches which crowned two Brazilian teams World Tour Finals Champions on the men’s and women’s side, awarding them each an FIVB record $100,000 first place prize. Florida natives Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena took home silver after a superb competition.

The men’s gold medal match disappointed fans of Americans Lucena and Dalhausser who fell in straight sets to the top ranked team of Bruno Schmidt and Alison Cerutti 21-13, 21-15. Going into the finals match, Dalhausser and Lucena were 5-0 in the tournament which included a victory against Bruno and Alison in group play but the newly formed pair had trouble recreating that success during today’s internationally televised match. The speed of Bruno and the blocks of the “mammoth” 6’8“, 233-pound Alison were insurmountable as the Brazilians conclude their season with the unprecedented achievement of being named FIVB World Champions and World Tour Finals Champions in a single year.

“We’ve done our job for this season, and I’m really happy for that,” said Bruno. “This was a big finish to the year for sure and we’re tired and have some injuries to take care of, but I’m already excited to start getting ready for 2016 – it’s going to be even better.”

The first-year tournament felt right at home on Fort Lauderdale Beach Park. The six-day event featured entertainment and fun for families and spectators of all ages and introduced Olympic-caliber beach volleyball to a new generation of fans. More than 49,000 attendees passed through the stadium doors during the week.

On the women’s side of play, the tenacity and skill of Brazilians Larissa Franca and Talita La Rocha Antunes was too much for the undefeated German team of Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst who had trouble keeping up with the Brazilian defense. Larissa and Talita showed why they were the hottest team entering the tournament with an excellent chance of being one of the two women’s team to represent Brazil in the Rio Summer Games in 2016.

“This is a special day,” said Talita. “With the 10 best teams in the world here, you have to play every match from the beginning of the week like a final – at a high level all the time. After missing the podium at the World Championships this year, this tournament was really important for us and we wanted the victory so much.”

FULL RESULTS, SWATCH BEACH VOLLEYBALL FIVB WORLD TOUR FINALS: SUNDAY, OCT. 4

Women, Bronze Medal Match
Agatha/Barbara Seixas (Brazil) win vs. Bansley/Pavan (Canada): 22-20, 14-21, 15-10Women, Gold Medal Match
Larissa/Talita (Brazil) win vs. Ludwig/Walkenhorst (Germany): 21-17, 21-18

Men, Bronze Medal Match
Evandro/Pedro Solberg (Brazil) win vs. Brouwer/Meeuwsen (Netherlands): 21-19, 21-14

Men, Gold Medal Match
Alison/Bruno Schmidt (Brazil) win vs. Dalhausser/Lucena (USA): 21-13, 21-15

The Swatch FIVB World Tour Finals gave the city of Fort Lauderdale six memorable days of world-class competition and saw fans from all over world enter the gates of the tournament. The quality of the teams competing and the energy of the spectators in attendance has undoubtedly made the FIVB World Tour Finals the beach volleyball event of the year.