Team Preview

Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour
US$400,000 St. Petersburg Open
August 29 - September 2, 2007

(23) Riccardo Lione/Matteo Varnier, Italy

Riccardo "Riccardino" Lione
Italy

Photo: FIVB

Personal Info

Birth Date:

Apr 13, 1972 (52 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 (45 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

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 St. Petersburg Results Neither player has played in this venue before

Recent Results

Tour	Date	Tournament	Seed	Finish	Points	Money
FIVB	8/15-19/2007	Aland Open	21	17th	120	US$3,000.00
FIVB	8/8-12/2007	Kristiansand Open	19	13th	150	US$3,800.00
FIVB	8/1-5/2007	Klagenfurt Grand Slam	27	17th	160	US$5,100.00
FIVB	7/24-29/2007	Gstaad World Championships	30	33rd	50	US$4,800.00
FIVB	7/18-22/2007	Marseille Open	14	25th	60	US$2,000.00
FIVB	7/10-15/2007	Berlin Grand Slam	21	17th	160	US$5,100.00
FIVB	7/3-8/2007	Montréal Open	11	9th	240	US$6,000.00
FIVB	6/27-7/1/2007	Stavanger Grand Slam	22	25th	80	US$3,500.00
FIVB	6/20-24/2007	Paris Grand Slam	24	9th	320	US$8,000.00
FIVB	6/13-17/2007	Espinho Open	15	17th	120	US$3,000.00
FIVB	6/5-10/2007	Zagreb Open	15	13th	180	US$4,500.00
FIVB	5/23-27/2007	Italian Open	7	13th	180	US$4,500.00
FIVB	10/24-28/2006	Mexico Open	8	17th	120	US$3,000.00

St. Petersburg Open Matches

Date	Bracket	Opponent	Score	Time
Thu, 8/30/2007	Winner 1	Florian Gosch / Alexander Horst, Austria (10)	Lost 16-21, 17-21	0:52
Thu, 8/30/2007	Contender 1	Premysl Kubala / Jaroslav Pavlas, Czech Republic (26, Q9)	Won 21-15, 21-9	0:34
Fri, 8/31/2007	Contender 2	Yaroslav Koshkarev / Serguei Prokopiev, Russia (9, Q12)	Won 20-22, 22-20, 15-10	0:54
Fri, 8/31/2007	Contender 3	Ahren Cadieux / Mark Heese, Canada (18)	Won 21-17, 21-16	0:49
Fri, 8/31/2007	Contender 4	Guilherm Deulofeu / Yannick Salvetti, France (22)	Won 21-18, 21-13	0:36
Sat, 9/1/2007	Contender 5	Dmitri Barsuk / Igor Kolodinsky, Russia (2)	Lost 21-19, 16-21, 8-15	0:57

Head to Head Results
Lione/Varnier trail the series against the field 17-25 (Lead 7 Series, Trail 8 Series, 3 Series Tied)

Date	Tour	Tournament	Round	Winning Team	Seed	Losing Team	Seed	Score	Time
Trail the series against # 1 Rego/Santos, Brazil 0-3
6/17/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Semi-Finals	Rego/Santos	1	Lione/Varnier	7	21-11, 33-31	0:51
6/9/06	FIVB	Italian Open	Winner 3	Rego/Santos	1	Lione/Varnier	9	21-15, 21-14	0:43
10/28/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Semi-Finals	Rego/Santos	1	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	By Forfeit
Trail the series against # 2 Barsuk/Kolodinsky, Russia 0-3
9/1/07	FIVB	St. Petersburg Open	Contender 5	Barsuk/Kolodinsky	2	Lione/Varnier	23	19-21, 21-16, 15-8	0:57
8/2/07	FIVB	Klagenfurt Grand Slam	Pool F	Barsuk/Kolodinsky	6	Lione/Varnier	27	21-17, 21-14	0:40
7/25/07	FIVB	Gstaad World Championships	Pool S	Barsuk/Kolodinsky	6	Lione/Varnier	30	21-15, 21-15	0:44
Trail the series against # 3 Araujo/Magalhaes, Brazil 1-2
7/1/06	FIVB	Norway Grand Slam	Winner 3	Araujo/Magalhaes	2	Lione/Varnier	12	21-17, 21-12	0:38
6/16/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Winner 3	Lione/Varnier	7	Araujo/Magalhaes	2	21-19, 18-21, 18-16	1:14
6/15/05	FIVB	Switzerland Open	Qualifier 3	Araujo/Magalhaes	3, Q1	Lione/Varnier	Q48	21-17, 21-16	0:46
Lead the series against # 5 Baracetti/Conde, Argentina 2-0
6/8/06	FIVB	Italian Open	Winner 2	Lione/Varnier	9	Baracetti/Conde	8	21-17, 21-18	0:50
10/27/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Contender 3	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	Baracetti/Conde	17	19-21, 21-18, 15-13	1:19
Trail the series against # 7 Cunha/Neto, Brazil 0-5
6/22/07	FIVB	Paris Grand Slam	Winner 2	Cunha/Neto	3	Lione/Varnier	24	21-18, 21-15	0:43
6/23/06	FIVB	Switzerland Grand Slam	Winner 3	Cunha/Neto	4	Lione/Varnier	12	21-11, 21-17	0:47
6/18/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Bronze Medal	Cunha/Neto	3	Lione/Varnier	7	21-19, 21-15	0:44
6/16/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Winner 4	Cunha/Neto	3	Lione/Varnier	7	21-19, 21-15	0:51
10/26/05	FIVB	Acapulco Open	Winner 2	Cunha/Neto	10, Q1	Lione/Varnier	7, Q14	15-21, 21-17, 15-12	0:59
Trail the series against # 8 Doppler/Gartmayer, Austria 0-2
8/10/07	FIVB	Kristiansand Open	Contender 3	Doppler/Gartmayer	12	Lione/Varnier	19	14-21, 21-11, 15-12	0:53
8/4/06	FIVB	Austria Grand Slam	Pool H	Doppler/Gartmayer	9	Lione/Varnier	8	21-19, 21-16	0:42
Lead the series against # 9, Q12 Koshkarev/Prokopiev, Russia 2-0
8/31/07	FIVB	St. Petersburg Open	Contender 2	Lione/Varnier	23	Koshkarev/Prokopiev	9, Q12	20-22, 22-20, 15-10	0:54
5/25/07	FIVB	Italian Open	Contender 2	Lione/Varnier	7	Koshkarev/Prokopiev	8	21-18, 16-21, 15-13	0:58
Series tied with # 10 Gosch/Horst, Austria 1-1
8/30/07	FIVB	St. Petersburg Open	Winner 1	Gosch/Horst	10	Lione/Varnier	23	21-16, 21-17	0:52
6/22/07	FIVB	Paris Grand Slam	Pool H	Lione/Varnier	24	Gosch/Horst	25, Q10	21-18, 33-31	0:59
Trail the series against # 12 "Geor" Gomes/Terceiro, Georgia 0-3
8/9/07	FIVB	Kristiansand Open	Winner 1	"Geor" Gomes/Terceiro	14	Lione/Varnier	19	21-14, 15-21, 15-12	0:53
6/14/07	FIVB	Espinho Open	Winner 1	"Geor" Gomes/Terceiro	18	Lione/Varnier	15	21-16, 21-17	0:43
5/25/07	FIVB	Italian Open	Contender 3	"Geor" Gomes/Terceiro	18, Q2	Lione/Varnier	7	21-19, 21-15	0:40
Lead the series against # 14 Brenha/Maia, Portugal 2-0
8/10/07	FIVB	Kristiansand Open	Contender 2	Lione/Varnier	19	Brenha/Maia	13	15-21, 21-16, 18-16	1:02
9/3/05	FIVB	Greece Open	Contender 5	Lione/Varnier	29, Q14	Brenha/Maia	16	21-17, 21-18	0:44
Trail the series against # 17 Laciga/Schnider, Switzerland 0-1
8/16/07	FIVB	Aland Open	Winner 2	Laciga/Schnider	28, Q2	Lione/Varnier	21	23-21, 21-18	1:01
Lead the series against # 18 Cadieux/Heese, Canada 2-1
8/31/07	FIVB	St. Petersburg Open	Contender 3	Lione/Varnier	23	Cadieux/Heese	18	21-17, 21-16	0:49
6/15/07	FIVB	Espinho Open	Contender 2	Cadieux/Heese	17	Lione/Varnier	15	19-21, 21-15, 15-12	1:15
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 # 22 Deulofeu/Salvetti, France 3-1
8/31/07	FIVB	St. Petersburg Open	Contender 4	Lione/Varnier	23	Deulofeu/Salvetti	22	21-18, 21-13	0:36
7/13/07	FIVB	Berlin Grand Slam	Pool E	Lione/Varnier	21	Deulofeu/Salvetti	28	22-20, 16-21, 15-8	0:53
6/21/07	FIVB	Paris Grand Slam	Pool H	Deulofeu/Salvetti	9	Lione/Varnier	24	22-20, 21-17	0:48
8/4/06	FIVB	Austria Grand Slam	Winner 1	Lione/Varnier	8	Deulofeu/Salvetti	28, Q15	21-15, 21-16	0:42
Lead the series against # 25, Q6 Hoyer/Soderberg, Denmark 1-0
7/5/07	FIVB	Montréal Open	Winner 2	Lione/Varnier	11	Hoyer/Soderberg	27, Q6	21-19, 21-16	0:37
Lead the series against # 26, Q9 Kubala/Pavlas, Czech Republic 1-0
8/30/07	FIVB	St. Petersburg Open	Contender 1	Lione/Varnier	23	Kubala/Pavlas	26, Q9	21-15, 21-9	0:34
Trail the series against # 29, Q14 Babich/Nikolaev, Ukraine 0-1
7/20/05	FIVB	Poland Open	Qualifier 2	Babich/Nikolaev	Q58	Lione/Varnier	Q26	14-21, 26-24, 21-19	0:58
Series tied with # Q3 Lochhead/Pitman, New Zealand 1-1
8/17/07	FIVB	Aland Open	Contender 2	Lochhead/Pitman	27	Lione/Varnier	21	32-30, 24-22	1:11
9/1/05	FIVB	Greece Open	Contender 1	Lione/Varnier	29, Q14	Lochhead/Pitman	20, Q2	21-23, 21-11, 15-9	0:56
Series tied with # Q4 Pedrosa/Rosas, Portugal 1-1
10/25/06	FIVB	Mexico Open	Winner 2	Pedrosa/Rosas	24, Q4	Lione/Varnier	8	31-29, 21-15	0:59
6/15/06	FIVB	Portugal Open	Winner 2	Lione/Varnier	7	Pedrosa/Rosas	10	21-19, 18-21, 15-12	1:04