Dalhausser, Rogers Continue Their Winning Ways

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

The AVP contributed to this release

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 2, 2010) – Hometown favorite Todd Rogers and partner Phil Dalhausser, the 2008 Olympic gold medalists, won the AVP NIVEA Tour’s Progressive Insurance Santa Barbara Open Benefiting Komen for the Cure on Sunday in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Top-seeded Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) beat 2008 Olympians Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), seeded fourth, 21-13, 21-14, in the final. They didn’t lose a set in their six tournament matches.

On the women’s side, fifth-seeded Annett Davis (Long Beach, Calif.) and Jenny Johnson-Jordan (Sherman Oaks, Calif.), who are 2000 Olympians, beat Dianne DeNecochea (Brooklyn, Mich.) and Brittany Hochevar (Fowler, Colo.), 24-22, 21-16, in the final. The last AVP victory for Johnson-Jordan and Davis came two years ago at the Santa Barbara Open.

“We love Santa Barbara — back-to-back!” Johnson-Jordan said. “We come into every tournament thinking we can win, but you don’t know until the final ball hits the sand. We like it here.”

Added Davis: “I think we played pretty well all weekend. We were pretty consistent, and for the most part, we were going for it. I think that made a difference as well.”

The top-seeded women’s team of Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.) was knocked out in the semifinals and had to settle for a tie for third with Rachel (Wacholder) Scott (Laguna Beach, Calif.) and Elaine Youngs (Orange, Calif.).

Dalhausser and Rogers tied for first place in the AVP opener in Fort Lauderdale. After winning their first FIVB event of the year in Brazil, they are now 3-0 for 2010 tournaments.

“Todd and I have had one bad game this year, and that was in Brazil (last week),” said Dalhausser, who had 10 blocks and 12 kills with a 0.5 hitting percentage in Sunday’s final. “Then we kind of caught fire, and I don’t think we’ve lost a set since we lost that match.”

Rogers injured his pinky finger toward the end of the match, but was still planning to leave Monday for China where he and Dalhausser are scheduled to compete in the Shanghai Open, the next event on the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

May-Treanor, the two-time Olympic gold medalist, and new partner Branagh, a 2008 Olympian, lost to ninth-seeded DeNecochea and Hochevar, 22-20, 15-21, 15-13, in the semifinals. After returning from an Achilles tendon injury that kept her out most of last season, May-Treanor had teamed with Branagh to win the AVP’s first tournament this season last month in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

The women’s beach team of Jane Croson (Los Alamitos, Calif.) and Summer Ross (Carlsbad, Calif.), which finished fifth at the FIVB Youth Beach World Championship last year, qualified for the main draw as the lowest seeded team and lost to Branagh and May-Treanor in their first main draw match. However, they came back to win two matches in the contenders’ bracket and finished tied for 15th.

The event also featured the fifth annual College Beach Volleyball Championships. Top-seeded Emily Day and Heather Hughes of Loyola Marymount University beat 12th-seeded Stephanie Barry and Colleen Walsh of Delaware in Sunday’s final, 21-16, 21-19.

The AVP NIVEA Tour returns to the beaches of Southern California from June 3-6 for the Huntington Beach Open Presented by Bud Light.

For complete tournament results, go to AVP.com.

Tags: AVP, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Elaine Youngs, Jake Gibb, Misty May-Treanor, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Rachel Wacholder, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers