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Team USA's April Ross and Alix Klineman take on Germany's duo of Laura Ludwig and Maggie Kozuch on Monday night in the women's beach volleyball quarterfinals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Ludwig won the gold medal and Ross took bronze when they were paired with other teammates at the Rio Games in 2016. The veterans have faced off regularly for well over a decade, but now they are paired with relative newcomers to beach volleyball. Ross played alongside Kerri Walsh-Jennings and Ludwig teamed with Kira Walkenhorst at Rio, but the teams did not meet in the tournament.    

First serve is set for 8 p.m. ET. Klineman and Ross are listed as the -400 (risk $400 to win $100) favorite in the latest 2020 Tokyo Olympic women's beach volleyball odds from Caesars Sportsbook, while Ludwig and Kozuch are the +275 underdogs. Before you make any 2020 Olympics bets or Tokyo 2020 predictions, make sure you check out what SportsLine Olympics expert, Mike Tierney, has to say.

A national sportswriter whose work appears in The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, Tierney has covered nine Olympic Games in person. For Rio in 2016, Tierney profited big-time. He told readers to bet Over on Team USA's gold-medal count (41.5) and Over on Team USA's overall medal count (102.5). The result? 46 golds, 121 medals and two easy cashes.

And for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Tierney hit two of his three predictions: Germany (+200) to win the most gold medals and the United States winning Under 10.5 gold medals (+110).

Now, Tierney has analyzed Monday's women's beach volleyball quarterfinal from every angle to help bettors cash in at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. You can only see Tierney's expert Olympic Beach Volleyball picks at SportsLine. 

Why you should back Ross-Klineman

Ross has been at this a long time, and she is a fierce competitor. She is very familiar with Ludwig and has a 20-8 career mark in matches against the German and her partner. Ross has played in two Olympics, also taking silver at London 2012 alongside Jennifer Kessy. They lost to American legends Misty May-Treanor and Walsh-Jennings in the final. She has not faced a team with Ludwig on the other side at the Summer Games. Ross and Klineman beat Cuba in straight sets (21-17, 21-15) in their knockout round opener to reach the quarterfinals. 

Ross is the gritty, all-out player digging the ball out of the sand, while the towering Klineman is an imposing presence at the net. The 6-foot-5 four-time All-American with the indoor team at Stanford transitioned to the sand in 2017. She and Ross won the first tournament they played together in January 2018 and were named the AVP Team of the Year that season. They took silver at the 2019 World Championships in Hamburg, Germany and won last year's AVP Champions Cup. 

Why you should back Ludwig-Kozuch

Ludwig is one of the most familiar faces in the women's beach game and has been to the Olympics four times. She and Kira Walkenhorst defeated Brazil's Agatha and Barbara in straight sets on their home sand to win gold in Rio. Ludwig has won eight medals (four gold) at the European Championships and teamed with Walkenhorst to win the 2017 World Championships. Walkenhorst retired in 2019 due to ongoing injuries, but Ludwig was determined to continue on. She teamed up with Kozuch, who came over from indoor volleyball in 2017.    

Kozuch took some time to transition, and the team finished 25th four times during the 2019 season, but they gained confidence and ended as the the World Tour Finals champions that year. Kozuch is a five-time German Volleyball Player of the Year and was the 2010 Sportswoman of the Year for her play on the indoor courts. She helped the German national team to silver medals at the 2011 and 2013 European Championships. The 6-foot-2 Kozuch is a skilled player at the net and will feed off the energy -- and high expectations -- of Ludwig.     

How to make 2020 Tokyo Olympics women's beach volleyball picks

Tierney has broken down this matchup and has isolated a critical x-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the money line. Head to SportsLine now to see Tierney's 2020 Olympics picks. 

So who wins the Ross-Klineman vs. Ludwig-Kozuch women's quarterfinal at Tokyo 2020? And what critical x-factor do you need to know about? Visit SportsLine now to get Mike Tierney's best bet for Ross-Klineman vs. Ludwig-Kozuch, all from the renowned sportswriter who's covered nine Olympics in person and cashed big in both 2016 and '18, and find out.