Stare Jablonki, Poland, August 6, 2010 - Men's teams from Germany and Latvia upset the seedings at this week's SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop by winning their pools here Friday at Mazury Orlen Grand Slam to earn "byes" for the opening elimination rounds Saturday.

The Beach Volleyball pairs of 19th-seeded David Klemperer/Eric Koreng of Germany (Pool L) and 20th-seeded Martins Plavins/Janis Smedins of Latvia (Pool M) followed up their opening day efforts Thursday by completing group play with 3-0 match marks. The other six "byes" were earned by six top-seeded pairs, including newly-crowned SWATCH FIVB World Tour champions Phil Dalhausser and Todd Rogers of the United States.

While the Latvians had to defeat 29th-seeded Anders Lund Hoyer and Bo Soderberg of Denmark (21-17, 21-16, 41 minutes) to remain unbeaten, Klemperer and Koreng signed a score sheet to win their pool play unbeaten as the Germans benefitted Friday with a forfeit by an Austrian team.

Friday's results also completed a turn-around for both teams as Klemperer/Koreng and Plavins/Smedins had finished 25th at last week's Austrian Grand Slam in Klagenfurt. Both pairs have competed in SWATCH FIVB World Tour finals this season with Klemperer and Koreng placing first in Norway and second in Switzerland last month. Plavins and Smedins dropped a title match to China's Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu two weeks ago in Marseille, France.

Second-seeded Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany (Pool K), who missed the last four SWATCH events due to knee injuries, joined Dalhausser and Rogers (Pool J) as pool winners Friday. Dalhausser and Rogers defeated 16th-seeded Harley Marques and Pedro Salgado of Brazil 21-19 and 25-23 in 52 minutes to claim Pool J. Harley and Salgado had defeated the Americans earlier this season in a Shanghai semi-final match.

On Thursday, Dalhausser and Rogers clinched the SWATCH FIVB World Tour championship by defeating teams from Poland and Switzerland to become the first men's team from the United States to capture the international Beach Volleyball season point’s title since the 1992-1993 campaign. The legendary American pair of Sinjin Smith/Randy Stoklos topped the world standings that season when the schedule over-lapped two years and the international circuit consisted of only four men's events.

Despite losing 24-22 and 21-17 in 47 minutes to 15th-seeded Igor Kolodinsky and Yaroslav Koshkarev of Russia Friday, Brink and Reckermann still won their pool as three teams were deadlocked atop Pool K with 2-1 records. The Germans had the best point ratio among the three teams to earn the elimination "bye" with the 31st-seeded Ces brothers (Andy and Kevin) of France finishing second due to their win Thursday over the Russians.

Other group winners Friday were fifth-seeded Marcio Araujo/Ricardo Santos of Brazil (Pool N), sixth-seeded Penggen Wu/Linyin Xu of China (Pool O), seventh-seeded Jake Gibb/Sean Rosenthal of the United States (Pool P) and eighth-seeded Adrian Gavira/Pablo Herrera of Spain (Pool Q). All the pool winners, except Brink/Reckermann and the Spaniards, posted 3-0 match records. Gavira and Herrera broke their tie with Michal Kadziola/Jakub Szalankiewicz by defeating the ninth-seeded Polish pair 21-17 and 21-17 in 39 minutes Friday.

The seventh annual Mazury Orlen Grand Slam concludes Saturday with women's "final four" matches followed by the men's medal rounds Sunday. The winning teams for both genders will share the $43,500 first-place prizes. Competing in the women's semi-finals are pairs from Austria, Brazil and China led by top-seeded and defending Mazury champions Juliana Felisberta and Larissa Franca of Brazil.

Led by top-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil, the "final four" for the women's Mazury Orlen Grand Slam was set here Friday after three rounds of elimination play at the SWATCH FIVB World Tour event.

The top-seeded Juliana and Larissa extended their SWATCH FIVB World Tour winning streak to 27-straight matches as the Brazilians eliminated teams from Switzerland and Russia to advance to their eighth semi-final in nine events this season on the international Beach Volleyball circuit.

Juliana and Larissa will play seventh-seeded Barbara Hansel and Sara Montagnolli of Austria with the other semi-final match Saturday featuring fourth-seeded Chen Xue/Xi Zhang of China against second-seeded Maria Antonelli/Talita Antunes of Brazil.

Three of the four teams have won SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medals this season with Hansel and Montagnolli's best placement being a third in France where Antonelli and Talita won the gold medal in Marseille. Juliana and Larissa have five gold medals this season with Xue and Zhang topping the podium once in Moscow, Russia.

Juliana and Larissa earned a spot in their 68th SWATCH semi-final in 81 FIVB starts since forming their partnership in 2004 with a 23-25, 21-12 and 15-11 win in 56 minutes over 28th-seeded Ekaterina Khomyakova/Anastasia Vasina of Russia. Earlier in the day, Juliana and Larissa survived a three-setter with 12th-seeded Simone Kuhn/Nadine Zumkehr of Switzerland (17-21, 21-19, 15-9, 55 minutes).

While the other three teams in the semi-finals played only twice Friday, Hansel and Montagnolli faced three opponents as the Austrians defeated pairs from Georgia and the United States before advancing to their three-straight SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-finals with an 18-21, 23-21 and 17-15 win in 58 minutes over 20th-seeded Kristyna Kolocova and Marketa Slukova of the Czech Republic.

Xue and Zhang, the bronze medal winners at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, ousted third-seeded Sara Goller and Laura Ludwig of Germany 21-16 and 21-15 in 37 minutes before gaining their 22 SWATCH semi-final berth in 48 FIVB world tour events with a 21-17 and 21-17 victory in 33 minutes over the 18th-seeded Schwaiger sisters (Doris and Stefanie) of Austria.

In the last match of the day, Antonelli and Talita scored a 19-21, 21-13 and 15-8 win in 53 minutes over the 22nd-seeded Nystrom sisters (Emilia and Erika) of Finland. The Brazilians started Friday by ousting 27th-seeded Louise Bawden and Becchara Palmer of Australia 21-18 and 21-18 in 42 minutes. Antonelli and Talita will now be playing in their 19th SWATCH FIVB World Tour semi-finals in 24 events.

The 10th of 15 women's events on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour concludes Saturday with the women's "final four" matches. The men's 24-team elimination bracket will begin Saturday with the semi-final and medal matches Sunday with the winning teams in each gender sharing the $43,500 first-place prizes.