Team Preview

Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
US$200,000 South Africa Open
November 23 - 27, 2005

(5) Riccardo Lione/Matteo Varnier, Italy

Riccardo "Riccardino" Lione
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Apr 13, 1972 (53 yrs old)

Home Town:

Rome

Height:

197 cm (6'6")

Weight:

97 kg (213 lb)

Seasons:

Tournaments:

109

Career Best:

2nd (2 times)

Career FIVB WT Best:

4th (2 times)

Career Winnings:

US$165,645.00

Matteo Varnier
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Oct 16, 1979 (46 yrs old)

Home Town:

Sanremo

Height:

198 cm (6'6")

Weight:

82 kg (180 lb)

Seasons:

Tournaments:

Career Best:

2nd (3 times)

Career FIVB WT Best:

4th (2 times)

Career Winnings:

US$122,550.00

Awards

Top Rookie 2005

Team Career Summary

Tour	Played	1	2	3	4	5	7	9	13	17	25	33	41	57	CQ	Money
FIVB	38	0	0	0	2	3	1	8	5	10	2	3	2	1	1	US$187,200.00
FIVB C&S	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	US$5,400.00
Overall	40	0	2	0	2	3	1	8	5	10	2	3	2	1	1	US$192,600.00

Previous Cape Town Results Neither player has played in this venue before

Recent Results

Tour	Date	Tournament	Seed	Finish	Points	Money
FIVB	10/25-29/2005	Acapulco Open	7, Q14	4th	280	US$12,000.00
FIVB	10/19-23/2005	Brazil Open	Q12	33rd	20	US$0.00
FIVB	8/31-9/4/2005	Greece Open	29, Q14	5th	240	US$10,000.00
FIVB C&S	7/22-24/2005	Italy Satellite	4	2nd	18	US$1,500.00
FIVB	7/20-24/2005	Poland Open	Q26	41st	12	US$0.00
FIVB C&S	7/15-17/2005	Italy Challenger	19	2nd	54	US$3,900.00
FIVB	7/13-17/2005	Portugal Open	Q25	57th	4	US$0.00
FIVB	6/15-19/2005	Switzerland Open	Q48	33rd	20	US$0.00
FIVB	6/8-12/2005	Croatia Open		Country Quota	0	US$0.00
FIVB	5/18-22/2005	China Open	Q34	41st	12	US$0.00

South Africa Open Matches

Date	Bracket	Opponent	Score	Time
Thu, 11/24/2005	Pool E	Stephane Canet / Gregory Gagliano, France (28, Q6)	Won 21-19, 21-13	0:43
Thu, 11/24/2005	Pool E	Roman Arkaev / Dmitry Karasev, Russia (21)	Won 18-21, 21-15, 15-11	0:56
Fri, 11/25/2005	Pool E	Kentaro Asahi / Satoshi Watanabe, Japan (12, Q1)	Won 21-14, 21-17	0:41
Fri, 11/25/2005	Winner 2	Jake Gibb / Stein Metzger, United States (4)	Lost 14-21, 16-21	0:45

Team Finishes By Tournament Type

Tournament Type	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-6th	7-8th	9-12th	13-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
World Championships	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$4,800.00
Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	10	0	0	0	0	1	0	3	0	5	1	0	$66,550.00
Challenge/Four Star/Open	27	0	0	0	2	2	1	5	5	5	1	0	$115,850.00
Challenger	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$3,900.00
Satellite	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$1,500.00
Total	40	0	2	0	2	3	1	8	5	10	2	0	$192,600.00

Individual Finishes by Tournament Type

Riccardo Lione												Matteo Varnier
Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Tournament Type	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	$0.00	Olympic Games
2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	$3,775.00	World Championships	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	$5,900.00
18	0	0	0	0	1	3	9	4	0	$43,425.00	Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	12	0	0	0	0	1	3	7	1	0	$38,375.00
84	0	0	0	2	5	20	22	15	0	$113,570.00	Challenge/Four Star/Open	35	0	0	0	2	5	11	7	2	0	$73,275.00
3	0	1	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	$4,125.00	Challenger	3	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$4,250.00
1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$750.00	Satellite	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$750.00
109	0	2	1	2	6	24	33	19	0	$165,645.00	Total	53	0	3	0	2	6	15	15	3	0	$122,550.00

Team Finishes by Season

			Results												Matches
Season	Assoc	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-6th	7-8th	9-12th	13-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Won	Lost	Pct
2005	FIVB	9	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	6	$27,250.00	24	12	66.7 %
2005	FIVB C&S	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$5,400.00	9	2	81.8 %
Total	FIVB	9	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	6	$27,250.00	24	12	66.7 %
Total	FIVB C&S	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$5,400.00	9	2	81.8 %

Individual Finishes by Season

Riccardo Lione													Matteo Varnier
Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)	Season	Association	Played	Gold	Silver	Bronze	4th	5-8th	9-16th	17-24th	25th	Lower	Winnings (US$)
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$0.00	1995	FIVB
9	0	0	0	0	0	1	4	4	0	$7,250.00	1996	FIVB
1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$525.00	1996	FIVB C&S
9	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	2	0	$13,000.00	1997	FIVB
1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	$1,650.00	1997	FIVB C&S
13	0	0	0	0	1	5	4	3	0	$19,675.00	1998	FIVB
7	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	$2,000.00	1999	FIVB
											1999	FIVB C&S	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	$350.00
1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$0.00	2000	FIVB	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	$0.00
10	0	0	0	0	0	1	3	0	6	$6,375.00	2001	FIVB
10	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	5	2	$8,320.00	2002	FIVB
9	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	6	$13,625.00	2005	FIVB	9	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	6	$13,625.00
2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$2,700.00	2005	FIVB C&S	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$2,700.00
73	0	2	1	1	3	11	18	16	21	$75,120.00	Total	Total	13	0	2	0	1	1	2	0	0	7	$16,675.00

Team Match Records

	Won 1st Set								Lost 1st Set								2 Set Matches		3 Set Matches		By Forfeit		All Matches
Season	Won 2-0		Won 2-1		Lost 2-1		Overall		Won 2-1		Lost 2-1		Lost 2-0		Overall		Overall		Overall		Won	Lost	Overall
Overall	44	58.7%	18	24.0%	13	17.3%	62-13	82.7%	16	20.8%	9	11.7%	52	67.5%	16-61	20.8%	44-52	45.8%	34-22	60.7%	1	2	79-76	51.0%
2004-2005	10	50.0%	7	35.0%	3	15.0%	17-3	85.0%	6	42.9%	2	14.3%	6	42.9%	6-8	42.9%	10-6	62.5%	13-5	72.2%	1	1	24-12	66.7%
Against the Field	10	52.6%	4	21.1%	5	26.3%	14-5	73.7%	6	22.2%	3	11.1%	18	66.7%	6-21	22.2%	20-34	37.0%	20-16	55.6%	0	1	20-26	43.5%

Team Match Records by Round

	Country Quota		Qualifier		Pool Play		Lucky Loser		Elimination Rounds		Semi-Finals		Bronze Medal		Gold Medal		Overall
Tournament Type	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost	Won	Lost
World Championships	0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2
Elite/Major Series/Five Star/Grand Slam	0	0	0	0	12	15	0	0	5	9	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	25
Challenge/Four Star/Open	1	1	9	5	3	0	0	0	18	21	0	2	0	2	0	0	61	49
Challenger	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5	1
Satellite	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	4	1
Total	1	1	9	5	16	17	0	0	30	30	2	2	0	2	0	2	88	78

Head to Head Results
Lione/Varnier lead the series against the field 12-9 (Lead 7 Series, Trail 4 Series, 3 Series Tied)

Date	Tour	Tournament	Round	Winning Team	Seed	Losing Team	Seed	Score	Time
Trail the series against # 1 Rego/Santos, Brazil 0-1
10/28/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Semi-Finals	Rego/Santos	1	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	By Forfeit
Trail the series against # 2 Araujo/Magalhaes, Brazil 0-1
6/15/05	FIVB	Switzerland Open	Qualifier 3	Araujo/Magalhaes	3, Q1	Lione/Varnier	Q48	21-17, 21-16	0:46
Trail the series against # 3 Insfran/Marques, Brazil 0-1
10/29/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Bronze Medal	Insfran/Marques	4	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	21-19, 21-19	0:55
Series tied with # 4 Gibb/Metzger, United States 1-1
11/25/05	FIVB	South Africa Open	Winner 2	Gibb/Metzger	4	Lione/Varnier	5	21-14, 21-16	0:45
10/27/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Contender 4	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Gibb/Metzger	5	22-20, 21-19	0:49
Series tied with # 6 Egger/Laciga, Switzerland 1-1
10/28/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Contender 5	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Egger/Laciga	3	19-21, 21-16, 16-14	1:02
9/1/05	FIVB	Greece Open	Winner 1	Egger/Laciga	4	Lione/Varnier	29, Q14	21-19, 21-17	0:49
Trail the series against # 8 Cunha/Neto, Brazil 0-1
10/26/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Winner 2	Cunha/Neto	10, Q1	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	15-21, 21-17, 15-12	0:59
Lead the series against # 10 Kais/Vesik, Estonia 1-0
10/28/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Contender 6	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Kais/Vesik	14	18-21, 21-15, 15-10	1:00
Lead the series against # 11 Baracetti/Conde, Argentina 1-0
10/27/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Contender 3	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Baracetti/Conde	17	19-21, 21-18, 15-13	1:19
Series tied with # 12, Q1 Asahi/Watanabe, Japan 1-1
11/25/05	FIVB	South Africa Open	Pool E	Lione/Varnier	5	Asahi/Watanabe	12, Q1	21-14, 21-17	0:41
10/19/05	FIVB	Brazil Open	Qualifier 2	Asahi/Watanabe	24, Q5	Lione/Varnier	Q12	21-17, 21-15	0:33
Lead the series against # 13 Amore/Fenili, Italy 3-2
7/24/05	FIVB C&S	Italy Satellite	Gold Medal	Amore/Fenili	3	Lione/Varnier	4	23-21, 21-13	0:46
7/17/05	FIVB C&S	Italy Challenger	Semi-Finals	Lione/Varnier	19	Amore/Fenili	6, Q1	21-18, 16-21, 15-10	1:01
7/16/05	FIVB C&S	Italy Challenger	Winner 3	Lione/Varnier	19	Amore/Fenili	6, Q1	21-17, 23-21	0:52
6/14/05	FIVB	Switzerland Open	Country Quota	Lione/Varnier	Q48	Amore/Fenili		21-16, 21-17	0:42
6/7/05	FIVB	Croatia Open	Country Quota	Amore/Fenili	Q41	Lione/Varnier		12-21, 21-19, 15-12	0:52
Lead the series against # 19 Cadieux/Heese, Canada 1-0
10/25/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Qualifier 2	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Cadieux/Heese	28, Q3	21-18, 21-19	0:50
Lead the series against # 20 Gosch/Strauss, Austria 1-0
10/26/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Winner 1	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Gosch/Strauss	26, Q8	16-21, 21-15, 15-9	0:56
Lead the series against # 21 Arkaev/Karasev, Russia 1-0
11/24/05	FIVB	South Africa Open	Pool E	Lione/Varnier	5	Arkaev/Karasev	21	18-21, 21-15, 15-11	0:56
Lead the series against # 28, Q6 Canet/Gagliano, France 1-0
11/24/05	FIVB	South Africa Open	Pool E	Lione/Varnier	5	Canet/Gagliano	28, Q6	21-19, 21-13	0:43