Two Beach Teams Reach PAF Open 3rd Round

Bill Kauffman
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 19, 2009) – Two U.S. women’s beach pairs have advanced to the third round of the SWATCH-FIVB World Tour’s PAF Open being held in Marieham, Finland.

April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.), seeded second in the event, defeated Sweden’s Camilla Nilsson and Tora Hansson 21-11, 21-10 in a 33-minute first-round match. Ross and Kessy wasted little time in the second round with a 21-17, 21-15 victory over Greece’s Vassiliki Arvaniti and Maria Tsiartsiani.

Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Meyers Beach, Fla.), seeded sixth in the PAF Open, swept their first two matches to reach the third round. Akers and Turner defeated Latvia’s Inguna Minusa and Inese Jursone 21-13, 26-24 in the first round, then claimed a 21-16, 21-19 victory over Netherlands’ Marleen Van Iersel and Sanne Keizer in the second round.

On the men’s side, Mark VanZwieten (Pompano Beach, Fla.) and Duncan Budinger (Encinitas, Calif.) won their first-round qualification match 21-18, 21-18 over Latvia’s Janis Freidenfelds and Martins Freidenfelds. However, the German pair of Sebastian Dollinger and Thomas Kaczmarek topped the American pair 22-20, 23-21 in a heartbreaking two-set loss in the second round of qualifications.

William Chenowith (Orlando, Fla.) and Dane Jensen (Redondo, Calif.) lost its men’s first round qualification match against Canada’s Jessi Lelliott and Ben Saxton, 18-21, 21-16, 15-7.

Both U.S. women’s teams will now face challenges from Brazilian opponents in the third round on Thursday. Ross and Kessy will face 10th-seed Ana Paula Connelly and Shelda Bede, a rematch of the 2009 FIVB World Championship semifinal matchup in which the Americans prevailed in three sets.

Meanwhile, Akers and Turner will challenge third-seed Talita Antunes and Maria Antonelli. The Brazilians defeated Akers and Turner in two sets during the semifinals of the Osaka Open earlier this year.

The winners of the two USA versus Brazil matches will meet in the fourth round for a chance to reach the semifinals.

The PAF Open continues through the weekend with the women’s medal matches on Saturday. The winning teams at the 12th SWATCH FIVB World Tour stop of 2009 will share the $30,000 first-place prize. The USA does not have any pairs in the men’s main draw.

Tags: Beach, beach volleyball, FIVB beach, U.S. Beach Team, U.S. Women's Beach Team