Lausanne, Switzerland, November 03, 2012—Like they did while winning five gold medals between them in 12 events in 2012, two of the top two women’s teams in the history of the sport, Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh of the United States along with Juliana Felisberta da Silva and Larissa Franca of Brazil, dominated the year-end awards for the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour announced today.

In voting by players, coaches, referees and officials on the popular international pro beach volleyball circuit, the effervescent Walsh won four awards, additionally sharing one with tenacious teammate May-Treanor while Juliana won one individual award, Larissa captured two and together the Brazilians claimed one team award.

Walsh, 34, was honored as the women’s Most Outstanding Player of 2012 as well as the Sportsperson of the Year, Best Blocker and Best Hitter. She also tied with teammate May-Treanor, 35, as the Most Inspirational players of 2012. For Walsh, it was the second time she was selected the most outstanding player, sixth time she was picked the best blocker and second straight time, and fourth time picked as the best hitter. It was also Walsh’s second straight year voted most inspirational and May-Treanor’s first time.

Finishing their season with 32-7 match record with an 82.1 winning percentage, USA’s May-Treanor/Walsh capped their illustrious career as a team by winning their third consecutive Olympic gold medal in August. In their FIVB career as a team, May-Treanor/Walsh played in 77 events earning a sterling 63 final four finishes wiht 40 gold medals, 14 silver medals and six bronze medals with $1,941,400 in their FIVB career earnings.

The affable Juliana, 29, was selected as the tour’s Best Offensive Player while the ferocious Larissa, 30, was selected the Best Defensive Player and the Best Setter while after winning their seventh season point championship, Juliana/Larissa were honored as the 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour Team of the Year. For Juliana, it was the third time she was honored as the top offensive player on the tour while Larissa was selected the top defensive player for the second time and the best setter for the seventh consecutive year. It was seventh time overall that Juliana and Larissa have been picked as the team of the year and fourth straight.

In their FIVB career together, Juliana/Larissa played in 108 events as a team earning an amazing 87 final four finishes including 45 gold medals, 20 silver medals and 17 bronze medals with $2,656,950 in their FIVB career earnings. In 2012, Juliana/Larissa compiled a 58-14 overall won-loss record for a solid 80.6 percent winning percentage and the bronze medal victory at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Their 58 match wins are the most on the 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour.

Winning the three other annual women’s awards were USA’s April Ross (Best Server), Netherland’s Sophie van Gestel (Most Improved Player) and Brazil’s Barbara Seixas (Top Rookie). It was the second straight best server award for Ross, who won the silver medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games with Jennifer Kessy.

Seldom at a loss for words, USA’s Walsh commented, “I am not usually at a loss for words, but these awards do come as a huge surprise. I am deeply honored to be recognized like this and I share these awards equally with Misty as together we accomplished so much on the sand in our career together. The year of 2012 will be remembered as my most memorable in all of the great years I have had in beach volleyball because of what both Misty and I overcame to achieve what we did as a team.”

In addition to all world tour events being internationally televised, also on-site at each event, including the 2012 FIVB SWATCH Youth and the 2012 FIVB SWATCH Junior World Championships was a special production crew from IMG, the company that not only produces the live international telecasts of select matches at each tournament, but also the weekly FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour highlight show that is syndicated throughout the world.

The 2012 calendar featured 12 women's and 11 men's events within all five FIVB confederations on the FIVB SWATCH World Tour plus the London 2012 Olympic Games which saw USA’s May-Treanor/Walsh win the gold medal at London’s Horse Guards Parade for their third consecutive Olympic championship.

The 2012 FIVB SWATCH World Tour offered $6.13-million in prize money. Nine of the tournaments were combined men's and women's events, and there were a record eight Grand Slam stops. The men’s tour concluded in August in Stare Jablonki, Poland.

There have been 282 men’s and 244 women’s events in the history of the FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour (open, grand slam, Olympic and Goodwill).  The first men’s FIVB SWATCH World Tour event was played February 17-22, 1987 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and the first women’s event was played August 14-16, 1992 at Almeria, Spain.

For more information on the 2012 FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour, please visit www.fivb.org.

All-Time Women's FIVB Beach Volleyball SWATCH World Tour Award Winners
Most Outstanding
2012 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2011 - Juliana Felisberta Silva, Brazil
2010 - Juliana Felisberta Silva, Brazil
2009 – Juliana Felisberta, Brazil
2008 - Xi Zhang, China & Misty May-Treanor, USA
2007 - Kerri Walsh, United States
2006 - Larissa Franca, Brazil
2005 - May-Treanor, United States

Best Blocker
2012 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2011 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2010 – Juliana Felisberta Silva, Brazil
2009 – Juliana Felisberta Silva, Brazil
2008 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2007 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2006 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2005 – Kerri Walsh, United States

Best Defensive Player
2012 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2011 – Misty May-Treanor, United States
2010 – Xi Zhang, China
2009 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2008 – Misty May-Treanor, United States
2007 – Misty May-Treanor, United States
2006 – Shelda Bede, Brazil
2005 – Shelda Bede, Brazil

Best Hitter
2012 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2011 – April Ross, United States
2010 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2009 – April Ross, United States
2008 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2007 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2006 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2005 – Kerri Walsh, United States

Best Offensive Player
2012 – Juliana Felisberta Silva, Brazil
2011 – Laura Ludwig, Germany
2010 – Juliana Felisberta Silva, Brazil
2009 – April Ross, United States
2008 – Misty May-Treanor, United States
2007 – Walsh and May-Treanor, United States
2006 – Juliana Felisberta Silva, Brazil
2005 – Misty May-Treanor, United States

Best Server
2012 – April Ross, United States
2011 – April Ross, United States
2010 – Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands
2009 – Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil
2008 – Maria Clara Salgado, Brazil
2007 – Ana Paula Connelly, Brazil
2006 – Ana Paula Connelly, Brazil
2005 – Ana Paula Connelly, Brazil
2004 – Ana Paula Connelly, Brazil
2003 – Ana Paula Connelly, Brazil

Best Setter
2012 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2011 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2010 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2009 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2008 – Larissa Franca, Brazil & Vasso Karadassiou, Greece
2007 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2006 – Larissa Franca, Brazil
2005 – Misty May-Treanor, United States

Most Improved Player
2012 – Sophie van Gestel, Netherlands
2011 – Marta Menegatti, Italy
2010 – Taiana Lima, Brazil
2009 – Marleen Van Iersel, Netherlands
2008 – Nicole Branagh, United States
2007 – Tamsin Barnett, Australia & Laura Ludwig, Germany
2006 – Leila Barros, Brazil
2005 – Vassiliki Arvaniti, Greece

Most Inspirational
2012 – Misty May-Treanor & Kerri Walsh, United States
2011 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2010 - Denise Johns, England
2009 – Shelda Bede, Brazil
2008 – Shelda Bede, Brazil
2007 – Shelda Bede, Brazil
2006 – Shelda Bede, Brazil
2005 – Shelda Bede, Brazil

Sportsperson(s)
2012 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2011 – Juliana Felisberta Silva, Brazil
2010 – Misty May-Treanor, United States
2009 – Shelda Bede, Brazil
2008 – May-Treanor & Walsh, United States
2007 – May-Treanor & Walsh, United States
2006 – Kerri Walsh, United States
2005 – Kerri Walsh, United States

Top Rookie
2012 – Barbara Seixas, Brazil
2011 – Britte Buethe, Germany
2010 – Marketa Slukova & Kristyna Kolocova, Czech Republic
2009 – Angie Akers, USA & Louise Bawden, Australia
2008 – Bibiana Candelas, Mexico
2007 – April Ross, United States
2006 – Chen Xue, China
2005 – Talita Antunes, Brazil

Team of the Year
2012 – Juliana Felisberta Silva & Larissa Franca, Brazil
2011 – Juliana Felisberta Silva & Larissa Franca, Brazil
2010 – Juliana Felisberta Silva & Larissa Franca, Brazil
2009 – Juliana Felisberta Silva & Larissa Franca, Brazil
2008 – Ana Paula Connelly & Shelda Bede, Brazil
2007 – Juliana Felisberta Silva & Larissa Franca, Brazil
2006 – Juliana Felisberta Silva & Larissa Franca, Brazil
2005 – Juliana Felisberta Silva & Larissa Franca, Brazil

All-Time Women’s FIVB Beach Volleyball Swatch World Tour Point Champions

Season, Team, Country
1992-93--Karolyn Kirby/Nancy Reno, United States
1993-94--Kirby/Liz Masakayan, United States
1994-95--Monica Rodrigues/Adriana Samuel, Brazil
1995-96--Sandra Pires/Jackie Silva, Brazil
1996--Sandra Pires/Jackie Silva, Brazil
1997--Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar, Brazil
1998--Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar, Brazil
1999--SheldaBede/Adriana Behar, Brazil
2000--Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar, Brazil
2001--Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar, Brazil
2002--Misty May/Kerri Walsh, United States
2003--Ana Paula Connelly/Sandra Pires, Brazil
2004--Shelda Bede/Adriana Behar, Brazil
2005--Juliana Felisberta Silva/Larissa Franca, Brazil
2006--Juliana/Larissa, Brazil
2007--Juliana/Larissa, Brazil
2008--Shelda/Ana Paula, Brazil
2009--Juliana/Larissa, Brazil
2010--Juliana/Larissa, Brazil
2011--Juliana/Larissa, Brazil
2012--Juliana/Larissa, Brazil