China Beach: U.S. Teams Go East for World Tour

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

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (May 4, 2010) – From the West Coast of the United States to the Far East, U.S. beach volleyball teams are in China this week for the Shanghai Open, part of the SWATCH FIVB World Tour.

The teams are coming off the AVP Nivea Tour Stop in Santa Barbara, Calif., where Phil Dalhausser (Ormond Beach, Fla.) and Todd Rogers (Santa Barbara, Calif.) took their third tournament victory of the season.

Dalhausser and Rogers are the tournament’s top-seeded men’s team in Shanghai and will play China’s Cheng Chen and Yong Liu in the first round of the main draw on Wednesday.

“We’ve never played in Shanghai before, and we had a long flight after playing another tournament in the U.S. last weekend, so we are a little tired; but we are here to do our job and we are playing in a good zone right now,” Rogers told the FIVB. “The great thing this year is that we really rested this past offseason, which really helped us. After the Olympics, between media appearances and playing on a U.S. winter tour, we really kind of got worn down. We are back now with a new enthusiasm and excitement to play the game.”

“What Todd says is really true about being able to rest this past offseason," Dalhausser said. "The difference is amazing so far this year, not just physically, but mentally as well. It’s nice to be back in China but we are pretty good in keeping things in perspective and this helps us stay with a good rhythm."

Jake Gibb (Bountiful, Utah) and Sean Rosenthal (Redondo Beach, Calif.), who finished second to Dalhausser and Rogers in Santa Barbara, are seeded 15th in China and will play France’s 18th-seeded Andy Ces and Kevin Ces on Wednesday.

Casey Jennings (Las Vegas, Nev.) and Brad Keenan (Westminster, Calif.) are ranked 19th and got a tough first-round draw in Brazil’s 14th-seeded Pedro Cunha and Thiago Santos Barbosa, who finished fourth in the last SWATCH FIVB World Tour event in Brazil, but not before beating Dalhausser and Rogers in the third round and knocking them to the consolation bracket.

Twenty-third ranked Matt Fuerbringer (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nick Lucena (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) will face China’s 10th-seeded Penggen Wu and Linyin Xu.

Women’s qualifying begins on Wednesday. Lauren Fendrick (Carlsbad, Calif.) and Ashley Ivy (Arlington, Texas) have withdrawn from Shanghai.

Brooke Hanson (Woodland Hills, Calif.) and Lisa Rutledge (Vista, Calif.), who had an amazing run at the Brasilia Open, will try to do it again in Shanghai.

Hanson and Rutledge advanced from qualifying in Brazil and made it all the way to the fourth round before losing to their U.S. teammates Jen Kessy (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and April Ross (Costa Mesa, Calif.). Hanson and Rutledge finished tied for fifth.

In China, Hanson and Rutledge are ranked 17th in qualifying and have a first-round bye. They will play Germany’s 16th-seeded Jana Kohler and Julia Sude on Wednesday.

Angie Akers (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and Tyra Turner (Fort Myers Beach, Fla.) are expected to make their 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour debut in Shanghai after having to sit out the Brasilia event due to injury. They will begin main draw play on Thursday along with Kessy and Ross and Misty May-Treanor (Costa Mesa, Calif.) and Nicole Branagh (Orinda, Calif.)

The medal matches for the US$380,000 Shanghai Open will be played Saturday for men and Sunday for women at the Jinshan Beach Volleyball Complex. The Shanghai stop is the second of 12 double-gender stops on the 2010 SWATCH FIVB World Tour calendar. The winning teams will share the $30,000 first-place prizes.

For more information about the FIVB World Tour event in Brazil, visit the SWATCH FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour web site.

Tags: Angie Akers, April Ross, Ashley Ivy, Beach, Beach Volleyball, Brad Keenan, Casey Jennings, FIVB beach, FIVB World Tour, Jake Gibb, Jennifer Kessy, Lauren Fendrick, Matt Fuerbringer, Misty May-Treanor, Nick Lucena, Nicole Branagh, Phil Dalhausser, Sean Rosenthal, Todd Rogers, Tyra Turner, U.S. Beach Team