Kristiansand, Norway, August 9, 2010 - Women's Country Quota playoff matches for teams from Brazil, Canada and Germany were played here Monday as the SWATCH FIVB World Tour returns to this southern Norwegian resort city for the fourth-straight year with the European country hosting its second international event this season after last month's stop in Stavanger.

The US$380,000 Otera Open will be played Tuesday to set the field for the 32-team Main Draw that features double-elimination play. The women's competition concludes on Saturday with the "final four" matches.

Advancing from the opening preliminary rounds to Tuesday's Qualification Tournament were Vivian Cunha/Taiana Lima of Brazil, Jamie Broder/Liz Cordonier of Canada and Katarina Schillerwein/Marika Steinhauff of Germany. For the Brazilian winners it was their fourth Country Quota playoff advance this season with the Canadians and Germans winning for the first-time in CQers.

As usual, the Brazilian Country Quota matches highlighted the preliminary play Monday as Vivian and Lima avenged a Country Quota setback to Vanilda Leao and Angela Vieira at last week's Polish Grand Slam in Stare Jablonki to defeat their compatriots 21-17, 20-22 and 15-11 in 60 minutes. The two teams have now met five times this season with Vivian and Lima now holding a 4-1 Country Quota edge over Leao and Vieira.

Two weeks ago at the Austrian Grand Slam in Klagenfurt, Vivian and Lima won 10-straight matches before losing the gold medal match to Brazilian rivals Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca. Two of the Austrian wins for Vivian and Lima were in the Country Quota round followed by a pair of qualifying victories in the next day to earn a Main Draw berth in Klagenfurt. Vivian and Lima won their pool to earn a first round "bye"  where they advanced to the semi-finals.

Broder and Cordonier, who placed 41st in their first SWATCH FIVB World Tour event together earlier this season in Korea, eliminated compatriots Kacie MacTavish and Kristina Valjas. Schillerwein and Steinhauff, who are competing for the first time in an FIVB "open" event as players, posted a 16-21, 21-19 and 15-11 win in 57 minutes over Karla Borger and Britta Buthe.

Norway has placed three teams in the Main Draw led by two-time Olympian Ingrid Torlen, who is playing currently with Vilde Solvoll. Other pairs in the "money" rounds are Ragnhild Aas/Janne Kongshavn and Mari Bergum Berget/Kjersti Hansen. Norwegian teams in the qualifier will be Rita Eritsland/Cindy Treland, Siri Bjorkesett/Janne Pedersen, Ane Guro Tveit Hjortland/Hazel Margrethe Perrens, Norway and Sannarnes Irmelin Torsvik/Camilla Nergard.

The SWATCH FIVB World Tour leaders Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca enter the Otera Open after winning their last four international appearances starting with a gold medal at the Norwegian Grand Slam in Stavanger last month followed by titles in Switzerland, Austria and Poland.

With their 14-21, 25-23 and 16-14 win in 55 minutes Saturday over China's Chen Xue and Xi Zhang, Juliana and Larissa tied Americans Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh's record of 35 SWATCH FIVB World Tour gold medals for a team.

Juliana and Larissa's successful defense of their Polish title in Stare Jablonki also made the Brazilians the second team in the 24-year history of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour to surpass $2-million in team earnings. Juliana and Larissa have totaled $2,028,350 to rank second to compatriots Adriana Behar and Shelda Bede ($2,207,965).

With Larissa surpassing the $1-million winnings mark two weeks ago in Austria, Juliana exceeded the milestone last weekend to become the sixth player to achieve seven-figures in earnings. The other millionaires are Emanuel Rego ($2,074,035), Ricardo Santos ($1,444,820), Shelda ($1,320,908) and Adriana ($1,198,438). Larissa has netted $1,032,935 and Juliana has earned $1,020,925.

After the Kristiansand stop, the European portion of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour season ends with stops in Finland (Aland, August 16-22) and The Netherlands (The Hague, August 23-29). The Hague is the final event of 14 stops for men in 2010. The women's 15-stop schedule concludes in China (Sanya, October 26-31) and Thailand (Phuket, November 2-7).