Dalhausser, Rogers to Play for Gold in Brazil; Kessy, Ross finish 4th

B.J. Hoeptner Evans
Manager, Media Relations and Publications
Phone: (719) 228-6800
E-Mail: bj.evans@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 24, 2010) – The U.S. men’s beach volleyball team of Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) will play for the gold medal on Sunday at the Brasilia Open, the first stop on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

Meanwhile, the U.S. women’s team of Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.) finished fourth on Saturday, falling to Brazil’s ninth-ranked Maria Clara Salgado Rufino and Carolina Solberg Salgado, 21-16, 21-16 in 43 minutes. Brazil’s top-seeded Juliana Felisberta Silva and Larissa Franca, who beat Kessy and Ross in Friday’s semifinal, won the gold medal.

Dalhausser and Rogers, seeded third in the tournament, will play Brazil’s fifth-ranked Emanuel Rego and Alison Cerutti in Sunday’s gold-medal match. After losing their third-round match on Friday, Dalhausser and Rogers had to work their way back through the consolation bracket.

“Matches against Brazilians are always tough, but we are in a good shape, so three matches in a day is not a problem for us,” Dalhausser said after he and Rogers advanced through three elimination matches in the same day for the first time in their international tour history. “Tomorrow we need to play our style, trying to lead from the start.

“During the week, we’ve had good and bad moments, like a wave, because this is our second tournament (after the opening AVP Tour event in Fort Lauderdale) of the year and we are not sharp enough yet. I’m sure we will become sharper during the season.”

Dalhausser and Rogers opened play Saturday by sweeping second-seeded Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann of Germany, 21-12, 21-18 in 44 minutes. Then they swept Brazil’s No. 8-seeded Pedro Salgado and Ricardo Santos, 25-15, 26-24 in 48 minutes to make it into the semifinals.

In the semifinals, they swept Brazil’s seventh-ranked Benjamin Insfran and Bruno Oscar Schmidt, 21-17, 21-17 in 44 minutes to make it into Sunday’s gold-medal match.

For more information about the FIVB World Tour event in Brazil, visit the FIVB beach volleyball web site.

Tags: April Ross, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brazil, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jennifer Kessy, Phil Dalhausser, Todd Rogers