The pair have a semifinal match against Brazil on Wednesday as Walsh Jennings tries to win her fourth Olympic gold.
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They will now play Brazil’s Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas in Tuesday’s semifinals.
They joined other beach volleyball fans in singing “Happy Birthday” to Walsh Jennings, who turned 38 as the match entered the early-morning hours on Monday.
Kerri Walsh Jennings celebrates with members of United States’ basketball team, Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan and Draymond Green.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Now she’s one win away from playing for another gold medal. Walsh Jennings and Ross are ranked third in the world; the Brazilians stand at No.2.
Brazil and Sweden meet at the Maracana in a women’s semifinal.
The U.S. women finished at the top of Pool C after capturing a three set victory over Switzerland’s Forrer/Verge-Depre on Wednesday.
The Americans’ victory was the second runaway of the night session; Agatha and Barbara advanced with a 23-21, 21-16 victory over Russian Federation. She pushed her personal winning streak to 26 games in the Summer Games.
For Walsh Jennings, it’s a new quest.
“We’re just so amped”, she said. She would undergo the fifth shoulder surgery of her career last September and did not compete the remainder of the year. “Credit to the Americans we wish them well, but for now I’m just proud with how we fought”. They won all their matches in the group stage, but this is the knockout stage where one bad match will send you home empty handed, and the Italian team of Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini did everything they could to make it hard.
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Four years isn’t all that long for a beach volleyball partnership, but it’s an eternity compared to Italians Marta Menegatti and Laura Giombini.
