A new team on the FIVB World Tour last season, the 13th-seeded Germans blend the blocking of the massive Walkenhorst (206 cm, 6’9”) with the quickness and defense of Windscheif.  The pair posted a fourth-place in the Long Beach Grand Slam last July before ending their season in Austria by upsetting top-seeded Phil Dalhausser and Sean Rosenthal in pool play after losing twice to the Americans a week earlier.  Walkenhorst has been a regular on the world tour since 2012 while Windscheif started playing full-time after placing third in a 2008 event in Bahrain with Sebastian Dollinger.  Walkenhorst has never played in a World Championships while Windscheif was ninth in 2011 (Rome) and 17th in 2013 (Stare Jablonki) with Dollinger.  Windscheif placed third at the 2007 under-21 World Championships in Italy with Jonathan Erdmann.