Four teams from Brazil, Germany and the USA remained unbeaten through Thursday and clinched playoff births. The rest of the field must battle on through Friday and come up with wins to solidify their positions in the elimination rounds.

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The Brazilians grabbed two playoff spots with Talita Antunes/Larissa Franca in women’s Pool B and Evandro Goncalves/Pedro Solberg in men’s Pool A. Joining them in the playoffs will be Laura Ludwig/Kira Walkenhorst of Germany in women’s Pool A and local American favorites Phil Dalhausser/Nick Lucena in men’s Pool B. All other teams are still battling for their positions which will be determined after the 11AM ET match for the women and 4PM ET match for the men.

Look for teams to play each match with all they have to make a final push for the playoffs on Friday.

Photocredit: Andreas Langreiter

Here are two USA matches to look forward to:

11:00 AM – Fendrick/Ross (USA) vs. Liliana/Elsa (ESP)
Lauren Fendrick and April Ross took a hard loss on Thursday, falling to the German team of Ludwig and Walkenhorst. They are still sitting in a good position at 2-1 in pool and looking ahead to Friday, they just need a strong, decisive win over the Spanish ladies Liliana and Elsa to clinch their quarterfinal spot. Look for the American team to come out fast in this match - gunning hard for the win.
 
1:00 PM – Gibb/Patterson (USA) vs. Brouwer/Meeuwsen (NED)
Patterson and Gibb put everything they had into an absolute battle on Thursday evening with Brazilian rivals Pedro and Evandro but ended up losing in three very close sets. As a result they are sitting at 1-2 in pool play and their only prayer for getting out of pool and advancing to the quarterfinals is by beating the Dutch team of Brouwer and Meeuwsen by a large point deficit. Look for this match to break the bank as Jake and Casey go for broke.