The seventh-seeded team in the 2015 World Championships, Emanuel and Ricardo are the FIVB World Tour’s most-decorated team with Olympic and World Championship gold medals to their credit along with receiving numerous post-season honors.  Entering the 2015 season, Emanuel and Ricardo have played in 89 FIVB World Tour events together and hold the international record for podium placements (58), “final four” finishes (66) and gold medals (33).  The pair placed second in their only 2014 event in São Paulo.  Emanuel and Ricardo have played in four previous World Championships with a gold medal in 2003 in Rio, a 17th in 2005 at Berlin, a fourth at Gstaad 2007 and a fifth in 2009 at Stavanger.  Individually, Emanuel and Ricardo rank 1-2 in almost every FIVB World Tour category, including tournaments played, gold medals, podium placements and “final four” finishes.  Emanuel started playing internationally in 1994 with 2015 being his 22nd season.  Ricardo’s first full-season on the FIVB World Tour was 1998 with this year being his 18th season.  Emanuel is the only player to play in all five Olympics and nine recognized World Championship events.  Both Emanuel and Ricardo have won each Olympic medal, including a 2004 gold in Athens and a 2008 bronze in Beijing.  Ricardo earned a silver Olympic medal in Sydney with ZeMarco de Melo and Emanuel collected his silver medallion with Alison Cerutti in 2012.  Emanuel has won three World Championship titles, including a 1999 crown with Jose Loiola in Marseille and a 2011 title with Alison in Rome.